Dangerous Liaisons
by paintedbynumbers
Summary: When Gary unwittingly saves Misty’s life one night, he gets hurled into a web of mystery and danger he never expected. Why is Misty on the run? Who are her sinister masked assailants? And could their unlikely meeting be more than just co-incidence? AGM.
1. Chapter 1

**Dangerous Liaisons  
**by paintedbynumbers

**Summary: **When Gary unwittingly saves Misty's life one night, he gets hurled into a web of mystery and danger he never expected. Why is Misty on the run? Who are her sinister masked assailants? And was their unlikely meeting more than just co-incidence?

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Pokemon, Gary Oak would have his own theme song. In simple words, I don't. All rights reserved to Nintendo and Gamefreak.

Though many of the mentioned gameplay features and storyline have been roughly adapted from FRLG and HGSS, there is no strict chronological orientation or place for the settings of this story. The known characters and Pokemon rosters here are a relatively big amalgam of anime, game and manga counterparts, and intentionally so.

* * *

_Come on, Misty, faster! You can't slow down! You can't let them get you! If you go down …then so does any hope of finding _him_…_

A million of these thoughts echoed around Misty Waterflower's head, urging her to push through the invisible walls of exhaustion closing in around her and keep her wearied feet moving. The unfamiliar streets of Goldenrod City spiraled round her in a whirling maze; the sharp screech of a nearby vehicle skidding to a halt to avoid running her over cut through the air as she frantically dodged a red light. She could hear the two men shouting behind her, still incomprehensible but each footstep and occasional puddle splash echoing louder and louder. Like a pair of Zubats unleashing a _Leech Life _attack, they seemed to be feeding directly off her own rapidly dwindling energy.

She had discarded her heels long ago but there had been a scarce second to relish the feeling of sweet relief in her feet; each desperate step made her more aware of the frigid sweat trickling down her neck and increasingly parched throat. Her pounding heart was setting the perfect accompaniment to her frantic pace; but soon, very soon, she would no longer be able to keep up...

_Surely_ she must have reached the other side of the city by now—physically she felt as if she had completed a marathon around the entirety of Johto. She was now at a fork in the road, with a few precious seconds to bet on which one could potentially determine her fate. If she made the wrong choice, there would be no second chance; it was the middle of the night on the outskirts of town and the streets were completely deserted. Those who weren't dancing the night away at Goldenrod's many famous nighttime hotspots were safely tucked away at home, blissfully unaware of the dangers roaming the city in their sleep.

"There she is! Grab her!" she heard one of the men yell out, far closer than she had hoped anticipated.

Clueless as to where either of the two identically bleak and uninviting roads would lead, she hopelessly dived to her left, hoping the darkness at the very least, would provide her with some coverage to hide. Either way, she was physically incapable of running anymore- her head was spinning wildly from dehydration, and she was sure she was starting to see woozy doubles of everything around her. Already her left thigh was throbbing painfully from severe cramp; a few more steps and her knees would surely buckle. Swallowing painfully, she quickly scanned her surroundings.

_No, this can't be happening..._

She found herself in an empty alleyway, surrounded by solid grey walls that enclosed her in a narrow vertical prison, without so much as a dustbin to provide any means of ample cover. The place would have been too desolate to fit in even with the cemeteries of Lavender Town. And straight ahead, she realized with a sinking heart, lay a tall barbed wire fence, pinning up the gruesome remains of a poor Pidgey that had flown too close. It was a dead end, and she couldn't turn back, but she was so close, if only she could just get over the other side of that fence. Whoever these men were, they wouldn't dare follow her into National Park, where plenty of night time police officers patrolled the area. If she could just find a way to propelherself off the ground and over the wire…

_**Propel**__ myself…_

The idea itself was risky, defied common sense and sounded absolutely ridiculous. In fact it sounded exactly like…

_Something Ash would do._

The thought of his goofy grin filled her with a new burst of adrenaline needed to take this final step. Gritting her teeth, she threw out a Pokeball from her bag. A giant Gyarados burst out with a huge roar.

"Shh, Gyarados, you have to be quiet!" Misty hissed. There was no way the two men would've missed that cry—she was cutting her own lifeline by several precious seconds. "Now listen to me. I'm going to get up on your tail, and when I do, I want you to fling me as hard as you can, up into the air."

Gyarados looked at her as if to say, _Are you crazy?_

"Look, I want you to aim over that wire fence into the grass over there…" Misty said, pointing. "Once I'm safe, I'll recall you and we can both escape unharmed. I need you to just trust me right now, okay?"

Gyarados didn't look reassured about the plan- or its owner's sanity, for that matter- but nodded obediently.

"Right…" Misty clambered onto the giant dragon's tail. She gripped the scaly surface tightly, bracing herself for the launch. But it never came.

"Going somewhere, poppet?" a too-familiar male voice sliced softly through the air. "No one likes to play tag with a cheater..."

* * *

" Oh. My. God. Is that really him?"

"I know. Check out his gorgeous hair! I swear, those photos in _The Daily Star_ totally do _not _do him any justice at all!"

"I'm going to go talk to him."

"Ohhh my gosh Katie, you _wouldn't_!"

"I will. _And _I'm going to give him my number. No sharing!"

Within perfect earshot of the girls, Gary Oak sighed tiredly from his private booth in whichever exclusive Goldenrod bar the Kanto PR had booked out for this year's annual Elite Four Johto Tour afterparty. It was like being constantly stalked by a bunch of love-sick Growlithes. He was getting terribly bored of hearing how _ohmygod totally hot _and and _ah-mazing _he was by the same inane group of attractive but vapid girls seeming to share exactly the same hairdressers, wardrobes and unnecessarily high-pitched shrilling after every damn sentence. For one thing, it's not like he wasn't already perfectly well-aware of their observations.

Tonight he had already received – and tossed out – four different phone numbers on napkins. He could now see the girl named Katie making a beeline for him, tossing her hair about like she was deliberately trying to bring on a neck strain and fluttering her painfully obvious false lashes at him most ridiculously.

"Need some air," Gary muttered, swigging the remnants of his beer and excusing himself from the circle just as Agatha began her usual rant about his "old duff" of a grandfather, as she was frequently inclined to do after one gin and tonic too many. More often than not in these situations his godmother's walking cane ended up doing most of the talking, and he quickly dodged out the back door before he could be attacked by either of the over-enthusiastic females.

Inhaling deeply and contentedly taking in the crisp autumn air, he began absent-mindedly wandering down the dark streets of Goldenrod, nonchalantly kicking the stray pebbles off the road and not really paying attention to where he was going. It was a much-needed refresher from the glaring lights and stifling heat of the densely packed club.

Another night of the reminder that he had all the fame, girls and looks every guy could dream of—and the realisation that it was all just so _pointless. _It wasn't even like he'd earned the credentials himself—take away the Oak name, and he was just another anonymous, handsome twenty year old researcher drifting along life until a more profitable job came along, except then he would actually have _needed _to work for the money. Tonight, as with most of his professional and social circumstances, he was just Gramps' stand-in for when the old man had better things to do, tonight an important research seminar in Cinnabar University. Any established celebrity event in Kanto or Johto needed an attending Oak on the guestlist, but it hardly mattered which one.

Since discovering the goal of Master Trainer was no longer his destiny, he had struggled to find out what _was. _He liked to think he had made the right choice with professional research; certainly it was something he enjoyed and at least good at – though he supposed in his case that obviously really applied to a lot of things – but did he really have what it took to become Professor Oak, and not just Professor Oak Junior?

By instinct he always refused contemplating anything that might potentially signal failure, so he refocused his mind, as he had with increasing frequency within these past few months, with what new thing might really be able to quench his thirst for a purpose-driven goal in life—something to live for, to _fight _for…

And that's when he heard a piercing scream in an alleyway nearby.

* * *

"Sorry sweetheart, we're not about to let you go _just _yet," the man snickered, his eyes burning Misty with scornful mockery through his balaclava hood. "Crobat! Toxic!"

The purple bat burst out of its Pokeball with a shrieking cry, and immediately hurled a huge mound of filthy sludge directly into Gyarados' eyes. The great dragon Pokemon howled in anguish, its whole body writhing wildly in pain. Misty was flung violently into the stone wall, the tremor of the force rattling through her entire body.

She collapsed in a heap on the floor, her right ankle exploding with pain as her whole body weight fell onto it. Biting back tears, she twisted round to see her Pokemon still thrashing around manically in agony. It had managed to shake off most of the sludge from its eyes, but the poison was clearly doing its job.

"Come on, Gyarados! Fight back! Flail Attack, now!" Misty urged, wiping the dirt out of her lashes.

Gyarados tried to lash out at Crobat with its massive tail, but the speedy bat nimbly dodged it without much trouble.

"Again, Gyarados! Don't give up!"

Again, Crobat effortlessly darted out of the way.

"Keep at it, Gyarados!"

Each _flail _attempt was noticeably less vigorous than the last; every movement seemed to be draining Gyarados' energy at an alarming pace. Finally, after a feeble, final swish of its tail, its eyes buckled and it collapsed onto the floor with a resonating crash, fainting.

"Gyarados, no!" Misty cried out in horror.

"Clearly we overestimated your intelligence, little girl," the second man drawled. "Everybody knows the power of Toxic increases the more your Pokemon stays in the fight. You practically did half our job for us."

Misty glared up furiously at the two men smirking down at her. "You'll pay…for what you did to Gyarados…"

Frantically she rolled onto her side, reaching for her dropped bag where the rest of her Pokeballs were. She wasn't about to let them get away without a fight…

"_Woops,"_ said one of the men, snickering, as he casually kicked the bag out of the way. "Mind _me."_

Misty's fingers clawed thin air as it skidded off the sidewalk. Her ankle still throbbed painfully, her head was spinning from physical and mental exhaustion, and her eyes began brimming with tears of frustration as she lay there on the ground, realising the utter hopelessness of her situation. It was finally over…

"Sweet dreams, poppet," whispered one of the men, bending over her. Misty saw the glint of a needle and whimpered in pain as she felt the sharp point pierce her neck.

"Hey, you two! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

The voice was vaguely familiar, and seemingly nearby. She could just about make out a blurred figure running towards her…a blurred figure with spiky hair…was it…could it be...Ash?

"Beat it brat, who do you think you are? Crobat, go!"

_No, Ash! Save yourself…you…can't… _Misty's eyelids were fighting a losing battle, being pulled together by some unknown magnetic force. Her vision became hazier still, the world around her disintegrating into mere blobs of colour…

"Blastoise! Hydro Pump!"

_Blastoise…Blastoise…Ash doesn't have a Blastoise…Then who…?_

But before she could recall anything more, her drained body finally gave way, her vision and consciousness falling into nothing more than a chasm of black.

* * *

Misty's eyes flickered open, squinting against the glaring rays of sun streaking through the blinds. She groaned and rolled sideways, burying her face into the sanctity of the snug, feather down pillow. Much better.

_Wait a minute- my pillow isn't this soft…and these sheets…my sheets aren't white…what's going on?_

Her head snapped round to take in the surroundings. The minibar in the corner, the walk in closet, the silver chandelier glittering above her…None of this was hers. This wasn't her room—and she was in a stranger's bed?

She tried to recall her last memory of the previous night. _The Elite Four afterparty...a__ dark alleyway…and a boy…a boy with spiky hair…_

"Glad to see you're finally up," said a figure seated on a couch across the room.

Misty blinked. "A-Ash…?"

_Had the whole thing been just a bad dream?_

"Sorry to disappoint, Scarlet, it's just me," he said cheerfully, carefully folding up his newspaper and laying it on the sofa before moving into the light.

Misty gasped. "Gary…_Gary Oak?"_

"The one and only," Gary grinned. "How're you feeling?"

"Um. Confused," Misty said truthfully. _What the hell are YOU doing here? _she had wanted to blurt out, but rudeness could hardly help her confusion now. "What...what time is it?" she settled for instead.

Gary glanced down at an expensive looking watch on his wrist. "6:30."

"In the _evening?"_ Misty yelped out in shock.

"Yup. Quite the sleeping beauty you are, eh?"

Misty shook her head. "But…but it can't be the evening…I woke up because of the sun…"

"Yes, it's called sun_set_, Scarlet," Gary said amusedly.

"But _why-_"

"Geez Waterflower if you're this inquisitive half-asleep, I'm not sure I want to see you fully awake...Look, how about you get dressed and we go grab some dinner, then we'll talk it out over there. You must be starved, no?" He gestured towards the floor next to her bed, where her travel bag sat beneath a freshly pressed towel next to her trainers. How had that made it here from her hotel room?

"All the Gym Leaders and VIP guests were booked into this hotel for the Elite Four party. I was standing in for Gramps, you had your key in your bag," Gary answered in a bored voice. "Can you hurry up and shower so we can go eat already?"

Misty was too befuddled to think of any logical reason to refuse. She shrugged, threw off her covers, then yelped in surprise as she caught sight of both her sister's dirtied and now rather untastefully torn party dress – _Do you even have ANY idea how much this designer cost? _she could almost hear Violet shriek—and her right ankle, which had been bandaged and raised up on a few cushions. There was a melted ice pack lying next to it.

"Did you…?"

"Oh yeah damn, forgot about that...the ankle obviously, not the dress," Gary winked. Misty immediately yanked the covers back up. "Guess it's room service then. You fancy a cheeseburger or something?"

Gary took Misty's silent grimace to mean a yes, and sat himself down on her other side, facing the wall to dial the phone. Misty took the opportunity to finally chance a quick peep at her apparent rescuer – who'd have thought—and grudgingly admitted there could've been worse things to wake up to. Despite her sisters' very best efforts she still hadn't really embraced the significance of boys as anything more than slightly more acceptable targets for her mallet. Save for the occasional unmemorable sighting at a Gym-related event it had been nearly four years since she'd last seen him properly, at the Silver Conference back when she'd still been travelling with Ash and Brock, but even Misty could see the difference the time had made to his stature and arm muscles – _not like he's the type to not already assume it all himself_, _shut up brain!_ Of course he'd look different after four years, she had changed too, it was only natural, though at the moment his case was being quite annoyingly enhanced by a just-loose enough white tank top...

"…Yup, that's all, Room 1302. Cheers." Gary hung up the phone and rolled round onto his stomach to yank the sheets off Misty's legs. She flinched and instinctively tried to pull them up out of sight – the unexpected breeze reminded her just how uncomfortably exposed they were in Violet's dress – but relaxed when it became obvious Gary was only trying to inspect her injured ankle.

"By the way Scarlet, I know it's hard to resist and all, but d'you mind not staring at me like that when I'm on the phone? It's kinda creepy."

"What?-I wasn't-You..." Misty spluttered, flushing with embarrassment. He hadn't turned around once during the entire phone conversation. _Why was he being so annoyingly cool?_

"Don't beat yourself up about it, can't really be helped I suppose," Gary shrugged, not really caring whether Misty took it as a joke or not. "Now let's see..."

He carefully peeled off the bandages on her ankle to reveal a small blue-black bruise on the underside of the bone, and gently pressed a finger to it. Misty hissed in pain at his cool touch.

"Still hurts, huh?" He frowned sympathetically. "Well, it's lucky I managed to get you here before it really started to swell up…nothing's broken though, so you should be able to walk in a day or two, I'm sure Alice can arrange for you to stay here a few more nights on the tour budget—"

"Oak," Misty cried, unable to control her curiosity any longer. "What the hell am I _doing _here?"

Gary raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry Scarlet, were you asking _me _for answers?"

"What? You just said you brought me here—"

"Well yeah, not much else I can do when I'm going about just minding my own business and I get interrupted by the shrillest scream known possible to mankind—and _lucky _you have it too,_" _Gary cut in before Misty could protest. "When I got there all I could make sense of were two unidentifiable men injecting a collapsed girl with something, next to a fainted Gyarados—"

"My-my Gyarados! Is it all right?-"

"Fine. I took it to the Pokemon Center already-you can visit it later. Anyway, my Blastoise sent those guys packing and then I realised who you were, but you'd already passed out by then...those bastards admitted it was just a sleeping sedative in that needle before they scarpered and I could tell you were still breathing fine, so I just brought you back here to sleep it off."

He hadn't, though. Sure they'd occasionally run into each other in various capacities these past few years, and given his complicated relationship with Ash they must have no doubt exchanged words or at least insults at some point, but they were still not really anything more than acquaintances and he could just as easily have left her alone in her room or with one of the Gym Assistants to sort out her luggage and ankle and gone on with his presumably busy day guilt-free. Most of yesterday's party guests would've had to bring hired chauffeurs or taken the first train back to their cities to resume their leadership duties for the week.

She only now noticed the scrunched up blanket and dark suit draped over the back of the sofa opposite her; he must have given up his bed for the night too. Misty had formulated various opinions of Gary Oak these past few years, but gratitude was never something she really expected or wanted to feel towards him.

"I don't really know what to say. I mean...thanks, I guess. Especially for the bed," Misty said, gesturing towards the couch. "Hope you managed to get some sleep at least."

"What, on the sofa?" Gary asked, bemused. "I managed a good seven hours, I only had to move there once you started snoring..."

"What? I do not _snore!_"

"Like a Granbull," Gary shook his head, with a barely suppressed smirk. "Well?"

"Well, _what_?" Misty snapped disdainfully. She might not have been the most graceful or ladylike of her sisters, but she most certainly would never have done something as horrendous as snoring loudly enough to wake up a boy! A virtual stranger in her _bed_!

_Dammit Oak!_

"Well," Gary continued, unfazed. "Given that I may have just saved your life and all, you mind telling me what's going on? I swear that must be the first time I've seen you at a League black-tie event...no complaints mind, I can see why those men were after you, though the whole sedative thing's a bit extreme"—_there's that stupid cocky smile again, _Misty thought—"but seeing as the big sis trio returned to Cerulean months ago I just assumed you'd have jumped at the chance to ditch the red-carpet side of Gym Leader duties and get back on the road with Ashy boy? Gramps said he reckoned you could fill up an entire pokedex on the undiscovered Pokemon roaming the new Unova region alone—Scarlet? What is it?" he stopped, noticing Misty's face fall.

"Ash…" Misty whispered hoarsely, lowering her head.

"What about him?"

"Gary… Ash…I think—I think something's happened to him," Misty whispered, her voice trembling.

"Something…happened…?"

"Gary, Ash has disappeared! Nobody has heard a word from him in two months!"


	2. Chapter 2

"Your Eevee's going to be just fine. Just take a good long rest for the night both of you, okay?"

"Thanks a lot, Nurse Joy!" the young boy eagerly grabbed his Pokeball from the cart and ran out of the Pokemon Center, laughing with relief. Nurse Joy smiled at the excitement in his voice as he happily assured his mother that his Eevee was going to be all right, glad to have helped.

She plonked herself back in the chair, giving her arms a good stretch. A large Chansey sidled up next to her with a cup of water from the vending machine, and Nurse Joy's dainty features broke into a large smile and she patted its head gratefully.

"Wow, it's been another long day, hasn't it, Chansey? Our Center's usually packed, but we've barely had even five people here this past week…" she commented between sips of her water.

"Chan? Chansey Chan!" the pink Pokémon said joyfully.

"You're right, I can't really complain- at least we know all the Pokemon out there aren't sick or anything! I guess I was just hoping my first week here would be a little more exciting than this…"

Chansey gave her a comforting smile, as if to say _there'll be plenty more to come, don't worry! _and sauntered off down the corridor to tend to other duties.

Nurse Joy stared glumly down at her computer screen. Deep inside she knew she was being unreasonable and selfish, but on slow days like these she couldn't help feeling a little underwhelmed at the reality of her job. Where was constant drama? The glory of saving a Pokemon from the brink of death? The grand medical mysteries she'd miraculously solve week after week, just as she'd been promised on her favourite show, Elm's Anatomy?

She was so absorbed in her thoughts she didn't notice the gleaming vehicle pull up outside in the driveway, or the several figures in black stepping out of the car in perfect tandem. If she had chosen to look up at that moment, she would have at least seen the leader of the pack—a sinister silhouette marked out from the rest by the strange bundle under their arm. Had she looked up, she might even have noticed the small trigger pad clasped tightly in his left hand…

But Nurse Joy did not look up. She only realised something might be wrong when her line of vision was interrupted by a pair of menacing eyes boring into hers from behind a ghostly silver carnival mask- and by then it was far too late.

* * *

"What the hell, Oak? How the hell can you be smirking at a time like this?"

"Oh come on Scarlet," Gary tittered amusedly. "We're nearly eighteen now—the kid can wander round on his own business without having to call home every night. And we both know Ashy boy's not the brightest crayon in the box…he probably just got tempted by the smell of food and ended up lost in the middle of a forest somewhere—"

"It's not _like _that! He had his Pokemon with him and everything! There's no way he could be _lost _for a month—"

"What, then? Kidnap? No one in their right mind would want to kidnap _that_ idiot! He'd ravage their entire food supply on the first day—"

"Stop it, Oak! Why can't you just take things seriously for once?" Misty yelled, her face slowly beginning to resemble the same shade of her fiery red hair.

"Woah Waterflower just chill out would you? I'm just saying…this isn't a dramatic crime novel you know? I mean just listen to how ridiculous your presumptions sound. Your little boyfriend, who's been on the road _constantly_ and coping perfectly fine on his own for the past six years suddenly forgets to call for a while, _maybe _because he's busy running around a completely new city every few weeks hunting down as many Pokemon and gym leaders he can get his hands on, and you're assuming he's been _kidnapped_ by Team Rocket or something—"

"He wasn't alone, he had _me_!" Misty growled, a little more defensively than intended. "A-and Brock of course," she added hastily. "And he's not my boyfriend!" Perhaps it was better to revert back to just shouting. "Look, I really just can't believe you think I could even _possibly_ be lying about something this!"

"I didn't call you a liar. I just think you're exhausted from last night, perfectly understandably, and should get some food and rest. The lack of sleep's preventing you from thinking completely rationally," Gary stated coolly.

"Oak, you—urgh why did I even bother?" With the furious vigour of an enranged Tauros on the rampage, Misty flung the duvet wildly off her bed, snatched up her bag off the floor, shoved her feet awkwardly into her trainers to march out of the room. Each interim between the huffs of effort accompanying her actions was matched with an appropriate verbal insult.

"You egotistical—good for nothing – insensitive—JERK—ahhh whoa!"

With Jolteon-like reflexes Gary leapt off the couch and caught Misty before she toppled over completely from losing her balance. Gently but firmly, he laid her down on the carpet and moved her bag aside.

"And what exactly do you think you're doing?" he demanded.

Misty glared up at him, still panting from the shock of her near crash landing. "What do you think? I'm going to collect Gyarados from the Pokemon Center and go search for Ash on my own- _without _your help!"

"While you can barely walk? Scarlet, bumbling around the place with a sprained ankle will makes you a liability for everyone, _least _of allAsh. _I'll _go get your Gyarados for you. Youjust stay put here and I don't know, watch TV or something."

He knelt up to reach for the black and grey hooded jacket on the sofa, but was met by a harsh slap on the arm.

"Ow! What was that for?" Gary yelped in surprise.

Misty scowled at him. "There's no way I'm staying another _hour _in your hotel room, Oak! If you're going, you're taking me with you."

"And how exactly do you propose to do that?"

"As I just said. You're taking me with you. Literally. On your back." Misty smirked triumphantly, then considered for a second. "Um, _after _I change out of this dress."

"Ah. Bugger."

* * *

"Stop squirming, would you?" Gary huffed irritably, fighting the urge to feign a sprained ankle himself just to be able to drop Misty off his back there and then.

"I can't help it, Oak!" Misty whined. "Your hair's too spiky!"

Gary rolled his eyes. He was a strong boy, but body weight aside it was extremely tiringtrying to piggyback Misty when she was squirming and writhing around like an electrocuted Arbok with every step he took.

"Well this was your idea, so grin and bear it!" he hissed.

"Shut up and just get me to the damn Center! And hurry up would you? A Slowpokecould beat you at this speed!" she snapped. "Wait, make that a paralyzed Slowpoke with only three legs..."

Gary was sorely tempted to shut her up with a jab about her weight, that well-targeted trump card of insults against the self-esteem and confidence of most females, but in this case he was certain it would cause him more tears than her. She had already painfully yanked his hair several times to catch her balance, and she hadn't even been properly angry back then. Stoic patience was the far more sensible option for his scalp and ears at this moment. He breathed a huge sigh of relief when he finally saw the grand structure of the Goldenrod Pokemon Center looming into view over the top of the hill, and after a few more minutes of forcibly tuning out as much of her voice as he could, Gary gratefully dropped Misty from his back, and she grudgingly swung her arm over his shoulder for support as she limped past the sliding doors of the Center.

"What on earth…?"

Both Gary and Misty stood frozen at the doorway, too shocked to move at the state of devastation that met their eyes. Various pieces of furniture had been flung wildly into the walls or lay shattered on the floor, and plant pots had been spilt all across the linoleum floor amidst fragments of ceiling and various other unidentifiable pieces of miscellaneous debris. The air hummed with the warning buzz of loose electrical discharge from broken machinery, and the strong stench of charred metal.

Gary numbly wished he was witnessing something less shocking so that he could actually appreciate this rare occasion of Misty being rendered speechless.

He swallowed. "Let's…let's see if Nurse Joy…"

"She's there! Nurse Joy! Nurse Joy!" Misty started making for the reception counter, but Gary yanked her firmly back.

"Wait, there could be bits of anything on that floor," he warned, and summoned out a Dodrio from its Pokeball. Gesturing for it to crouch down, he easily eased Misty onto its back and off the ground. "Three pairs of eyes should catch anything that could get you into trouble. Now let's see..."

The three of them carefully stepped around a loose cable poking out from underneath an overturned gurney, and made their way to the desk. Nurse Joy was lying crumpled across the surface, her hat strewn on the floor. Luckily it seemed that the counter had shielded her from most of the debris flying around the room, as apart from a few scratches and a burnt dress hem, she seemed largely unharmed.

"Nurse Joy?" Gary tentatively shook her shoulder. She did not move. He tried again, slightly more vigorously this time. "Nurse Joy? Can you get up?"

The pink-haired nurse finally moved, stirring awake in light shudders. She groggily peered up at Gary through an eye.

"What...what happened…who…?"

"Everything's going to be alright," Gary said with a steady hand on her shoulder, intended as firm assurance he was taking control of the situation. "You're safe now, we're here to help you. That's Misty, I'm Gary—we're both trainers from Kanto here for the Elite Four Conference. I actually came by to drop off a Gyarados here earlier today—"

"Oh my god, Gyarados! Are the Pokemon injured—? " Misty cried out.

Nurse Joy weakly propped herself up with Gary's support, and shook her head. "We kept Gyarados quite far down that aisle there on the left. If it went off in this room, the blast probably didn't reach quite that far…"

Gary exchanged nods with Misty, and she clung tightly onto Dodrio as it disappeared down the corridor signposted _Intensive Care Unit. _He turned back to Nurse Joy. "Could you tell me what happened…?"

She nodded uncertainly. "I can't really remember much details…I was just sitting here, daydreaming a bit I suppose…and then suddenly this man just...appeared in front of me at the counter. There were some more behind him, quite strangely orderly, he must've been the leader..."

"Any idea what he looked like?"

"I couldn't really see much. He was dressed in black…they all were...but he had his face behind a mask. Not normal baclavas like the rest of them, a strange theatrical one, the kind you see in street carnivals. His whole face was covered but I just remember his eyes...dark...pitiless...I really thought he was going to kill me…"

Gary connected the dots in his head. _A team of masked men in black, just like the ones that attacked Misty. And seemingly from a proper organised syndicate, not just the bunch of rogues I was hoping for..._

"I see. Did you see how he caused all this? Maybe anything important you remember him saying?' Gary pressed.

"I…I can't remember…" Nurse Joy whispered faintly. Her head drooped and her elbows started shaking from the effort of keeping herself upright. She gasped softly as she tried to take in some deep breaths. "I'm…sorry…My head feels weak…"

"Nurse Joy?" Gary cried in alarm. He managed to cushion her head before it hit the desk again. He felt her pulse—slow but stable—and realised he was going to get nothing more from her in the meantime. Sighing, he dialed Officer Jenny on his cellphone and, after being reassured an investigation team and ambulance would be sent right away, carefully lifted Nurse Joy's body out of the way onto a surviving armchair nearby and covered her up with his jacket.

"Now…" he crossed back to the main computer behind the counter, which buzzed alarmingly when switched on but otherwise seemed to be largely operational. "CCTV Security video archive…Today…5:30-6:30 pm…Here it is!"

The camera itself had obviously suffered a bit more damage from the attack, as fuzzy colour and flickering grey bars immediately began fighting over the screen, and the audio amounted was really just a mass of buzzing with a few audible syllables thrown in. However, it was enough—between the flickering Gary could just about make out this masked man walking in through the doors now, then him talking with Joy...she was flailing her arms round wildly in confusion, then the man handed over something to one of his subordinates to transport down the ICU corridor. What was it? Some sort of…bundle of brown and yellow…the video was too fuzzy to make it out clearly…

More buzzing and flickering…

The masked man was still talking now. Gary inched in to try and hear what he was saying…

Gary frowned, and rewound the video back to that point. It _couldn't _have been…but there it was again. From what bare syllables he could discern from the audio, he was positive he'd heard those impossible words coming from the masked man's mouth...

"Gary!"

He spun around to the sound of Misty and Dodrio darting back down the corridor.

_What could this all mean?_

He could see Gyarados' Pokeball in her hand, so he was surprised she appeared to look even more unsettled than he was. Her hands trembled as she swept back a loose strand of hair off her blanched face.

"What's wrong? Did the blast get Gyarados?" Gary asked concernedly.

Misty shook her head. "Gyarados is fine. But Oak… I found...something else…while I was searching for it…"

Gary froze.

Barely concealing a sob, Misty carefully unraveled a bundle tucked under her arm. It was covered in scratches and badly injured, but there was no mistaking that creature anywhere.

It was Ash's Pikachu.


	3. Chapter 3

From the tinted window of Officer Jenny's car, the two trainers watched in silence as the ambulance shut its white doors behind Nurse Joy's gurney. Passers-by looked on curiously at the police cars and medics surrounding the cordoned-off Pokemon Center, whose grand exterior still concealed any sign of the destruction inside.

Within moments of Misty's return Officer Jenny and her team had arrived at the scene and quickly taken control of the situation. A paramedic announced Nurse Joy's condition as 'serious but stable' before she was hurriedly whisked off to the Goldenrod City Hospital, and as most of the Pokemon Center's equipment had already been destroyed, Ash's Pikachu had been sent down to the Goldenrod police station for emergency treatment. Gary and Misty were now being driven back to their hotel in a tense silence Officer Jenny was having little luck trying to relieve.

"Nurse Joy will be fine," she said in the most reassuringly cheerful voice she could muster. "Goldenrod City has one of the finest hospitals in Johto. You can visit her later tonight, if you want."

There was no reply from the back of the car.

"And don't worry about that little Pikachu either," she added confidently. "We get injured Growlithes every day from our work, and they've never been in less than perfect condition after a night with our resident PokeNurse. Once it's healed up, we'll track down the owner and contact them at once…"

From the corner of his eye Gary saw Misty tightening the grip around her wrist, though her eyes did not stray from their determined gaze on the scenery outside.

Admitting defeat in her quest for a response, Officer Jenny sighed in resignation and turned on the car radio. Gary normally didn't mind DJ Mary's talkshows –with his grandfather as a regular co-host his personal research contributions often went into their making—but tonight her usual charming laugh sounded like an inappropriately cheerful cackle that only further soured the glum atmosphere in the car. He forcibly tuned the words out of his ears and agitatedly swept a hand through his hair to try clear his focus, but it was no good; the cinnamon spikes were brushed off his forehead only momentarily before defiantly falling down to tickle his eyebrows once more. It only reinforced how unsettlingly clueless he was about the rollercoaster of drama that had unfolded over the past 24 hours. Meeting Misty Waterflower, in Goldenrod of all places for the first proper time in four years and running for her life…two appearances of this mysterious gang of masked villains…the bizarre allegations of Ash's apparent abduction...

Well now there was no denying some truth behind Misty's suspicions of that last development. Even Gary, who, for the majority of his trainer journey had only paid attention to his rival's Pokemon when the opportunity for a personal insult cropped up, was well aware of the unshakeable bond between Ash and his Pikachu. Far beyond the simple allegiance bond of master and trainer, they were best friends, lifelong companions, undone by no one while separating for nothing.

_And yet we found it here…on the brink of fainting…_Gary frowned. _And alone…_

Misty and Pikachu, in a place as random as Goldenrod City—there was seemingly nothing to connect them here except for the appearance of those masked men. Who, or _what _could have been so deadly to have prevented Ash from being with his Pikachu while it was so gravely injured? Could they really have caused all this catastrophe?

Only one name came to Gary's mind as being capable of wielding such thirst for violence. But it couldn't be. That group had been completely disbanded over two years ago...

Misty held the key to the answers he wanted, he was sure of it. She had already been right about Ash's disappearance just before they had found Pikachu, and he was sure there was more than she was letting on. There wasn't a chance in hell was going to sit meekly doing nothing while a ruthless enemy force was roaming the country, recklessly threatening destruction on innocent people and Pokemon alike.

The police car finally slid up in front of the hotel, and Gary muttered a barely audible 'thanks' to Officer Jenny before opening the door and half-helping, half-yanking Misty out after him. Ignoring her yelp of indignation, he hoisted her up in his arms and marched down the street.

"What are you doing?" she yelled, as Gary continued straight past their hotel. "Put me down, Oak!"

"Will you shut up for just one _second_?" Gary hissed back, looking quickly over his shoulder before turning the corner and continuing at his brisk pace. "Do you _want _to get attacked again?"

"What are you—mmff!" she protested against Gary's hand now clasped over her mouth. He turned another corner, stiffly returning the simpering smiles of a young couple canoodling on a wooden bench under a streetlight before taking another long left. From below, Misty watched him silently survey his surroundings, glancing right, then left, then right again, before finally settling for going straight. Misty nearly bit his hand in surprised anger when she realised where he had brought her—the very same alleyway where she'd been attacked last night!

"What the hell Oak—" she almost spat as he released her from his arms.

"Misty." The quietness of his voice did nothing to undermine the commanding authority in his tone.

"You—did you just use my actual name...?"

The tiniest flicker of a smirk passed his lips, but it was so fleeting Misty may well have imagined it. "Misty," he said again. "I think it's time you tell me what happened to you last night."

"What happened to me? I already told you I don't know who they are—"

"Those men that were chasing you last night- they're the same guys, or at least, from the same group that attacked the Center today- the same Center where Ash's Pikachu just _happens _to be, right after _you _claim Ash has vanished for two months-"

"Ash _has _vanished for two months! How can you still not believe me?"

"Stop changing the subject. If there's anything I've learnt as a scientist it's that there's very few explanations in this world that can come down to pure co-incidence, and nothing that's happened in the last 24 hours counts as one of them. All these things link up, in some weird and wacky way I don't quite understand yet—but you knew that already didn't you? Much more than you're already letting on. Why, Misty Waterflower, did you and I end up meeting here in the middle of the night in this very alleyway, far off from both our homes all the way here in Johto?"

"What business is it of yours why I was in Goldenrod last night, Oak?" she snapped brusquely.

"Technically none. But I can't help but let it become my business when I see it endangering the lives of innocent Pokemon and people. Especially not Ash—it's _my _job to torment the kid, remember?"

His face was still serious but Misty noticed his eyes had softened at the mention of his once-rival and within the strange dynamics of their complex relationship, close friend.

_Can I trust him_?

"Why have you brought me back here anyway? I was kind of hoping to erase whatever hazy memory I had left of this place after last night."

"We're obviously dealing with some real professionals here; hell, they might still all be hiding out here in the city somewhere. We wouldn't want to be overheard by someone...unwanted."

Misty swallowed. She hadn't even considered the possibility.

_He's good. Maybe I have no choice..._

"Fine. I'll share what I know, if only to shut you up. That doesn't mean I fully trust you, or that I think you're any less capable of being a right jerk sometimes—"

"Wouldn't dream of it," Gary interjected in mock shock, smiling at last. "Now why don't you stop bobbing around like a little Sentret with that ankle and fill me in properly?"

He took off his jacket and folded it into a thick lump opposite him, patting it to indicate she should use it as a cushion for the ground.

"That's the spirit, Scarlet. Now, let's go through it from the beginning. What were you doing in Goldenrod City?"

* * *

"Mission report, Agent Vixen?" a high, cold voice sliced through the lifeless air of the room.

The woman named Vixen looked up from the dark stone floor, and carefully peeled off her mask with two slender, articulately manicured nails. Like others of her elite rank she had been granted the dignity of customising the visuals of her criminal persona to her liking; Vixen's choice was an intricate work of black satin and lace curved diagonally across her right eye, nose and lips in the shape of a crescent moon, framed on the side by a row of glossy ebony-red Honchkrow feathers. With an underlying sequined eye mask providing cover on the bare side, she had still managed to encapsulate her disguise with a strikingly haunting beauty; after all, the risk of easier identification was not a problem when targets rarely survived to report an encounter.

But as she tossed her long silvery blonde waves free from the clutches of the black turtleneck sweather clinging to her slender curves it was evident, even in the sparse light of the room, that the beauty of her impressive craftwork did little justice to what had to be concealed. Anyone would've thought she belonged on the silver screen or on the cover of a glossy magazine; a face that would make millions. Only the hollow blankness behind her entrancing grey eyes gave any real hint of how she really made her living, and if you were close enough to see them properly chances were it was going to be the very last thing you did.

"Everything went as planned, Sir," Vixen replied confidently, unable to keep the eager anticipation of approval out of her voice. "The mission was a complete success."

"Was it, Vixen?" It was barely more than a whisper, but the man did not need to raise his volume to command total attention of the entire room. One could almost sense even the Spinaraks scuttling about the wall cracks seeming to pause and listen.

"Something…was not to your satisfaction, sir?" Vixen swallowed.

"No, Vixen. Something was not." The man sighed disappointedly and rose from his chair, though his silhouette remained concealed within the shadows.

"When your team delivered our message for Mr. Oak and Miss Waterflower, I presume you were unaware that this particular Nurse Joy not only survived the blast, but also happened to be a first-hand witness to young Mr. Ketchum's…revealing final conversation with Professor Oak?"

Vixen gasped. "I-I did not, sir-"

"I presume,"—he went on—"It is not necessary to emphasize the extent of damage this information could have on our operation, if it fell into the wrong hands?"

"No, sir," Vixen whimpered, biting her lip nervously.

"I am gravely disappointed, Vixen," he continued slowly. "This is our most important project to date—and crucial to our revival. I personally picked you to command this assignment as I had total faith you would carry the task through the most efficiently…and without flaws."

Vixen hung her head. "I—In all fairness, Sir, I feel I must mention that Deputy Agent Sark was in charge of checking our intel, and was the one who spoke to Nurse Joy herself-"

"Are you questioning my judgement, Vixen?" the man asked coldly.

"Of—of course not, Sir! As Team Leader, it was my job to oversee and check all final details—the fault lies just as much in me as in Agent Sark-"

The man held up a gloved hand for silence.

"I am aware of the situation, Vixen, and I only bring up the topic as you have been blessed with a second chance for redemption, out of the chaos of your own carelessness...one that I trust you will carry out with your usual flawless execution. After all," he said with a grim smirk no one could see. "Agent Sark will not be granted the same favour."

Vixen fell to her knees, stifling tears of gratitude.

"Oh—thank you—_thank you _Sir, you are far too kind—"

The man placed a firm, fatherly hand on Vixen's shoulder.

"You have been my most loyal servant for years, Vixen; one little hiccup cannot erase that," he said softly. "I must simply ask you not to _question my judgment. _That for me would be a sign of disloyalty—and you know of my..._tolerance_…for disloyalty."

Vixen nodded with terrified obedience.

"Now, Agent Sark may have broken protocol but he must nevertheless be commended for his precautionary measure of remaining on location after the bomb, no doubt from his own suspicions that such a mishap might happen under your watch."

Vixen suppressed a growl.

"As it turns out, fate seemed to have been playing into our hands all along. Having gone undercover as a paramedic, Agent Sark was able to learn not only of the highly classified plans for Nurse Joy's safekeeping, but also witness her actual rescuers. We needn't even have bothered with the Pikachu bait. Nurse Joy was found by none other than our separate intended targets – Gary Oak and Miss Waterflower."

"You mean to say—"

"Yes Vixen, Professor Oak's grandson and Cerulean's Gym Leader are currently present in the same city, perhaps even together in close company after the shocks of tonight. Our two most necessary...ingredients shall we say, for Project Arcana's inception...two Pidgeys about to be trapped with one stone. You may get your revenge on Phoenix for your father's death yet, my dear Vixen."

"S-Sir..." Vixen whispered, her lips twitching with uncertainty of the appropriate response. How long had she waited for this moment...?

"Your time will come soon enough, Vixen, but success can only come with patience. First we must assume that Miss Waterflower has already connected the Magnet Train incident with Mr Ketchum's disappearance. If that's the case, it won't be long before they link all the events together and realize Nurse Joy is the only witness to young Mr. Ketchum's conversation—making her the only outsider to know of his current location."

The man paused, sinking back into his chair.

"Young they may be, but our predecessors have fatally underestimated the cunning of youth in the past. We cannot risk giving those brats any more information than necessary." His tone was decisive and final. "So, Vixen, the task is simple. Nurse Joy will be escorted to Ward 13 of the Goldenrod City Hospital tonight. Eliminate her— taking whatever measures necessary –before the clock turns midnight."


	4. Chapter 4

Gary's fingers raked through his hair agitatedly, his eyebrows furrowed in frustrated concentration. He wasn't used to coping with not automatically having at least some answers for every problem swept his way.

"So let me get this straight. Two weeks ago you returned to Cerulean from the Unova gym leader elections so your sisters could go on holiday again, and while you were gone Brock had sent you a PokeMail asking—"

"—If I'd heard anything from Ash the past month, yes," Misty repeated. "He said he'd rung the gym earlier that week but obviously I was away and he didn't want to share anything potentially suspicious with my sisters. I know we're technically not allowed to communicate with outsiders during the elections conference as an anti-corruption measure but I'd have at least found some way to check my gym mail if my stupid sisters had even bothered to remember passing on the message he'd called! Obviously I didn't have a clue about his message until I got back to the gym..."

"Right. So Brock was asking after Ash because he already suspected something was wrong as well?"

"Yeah, he didn't go into details but apparently a few days before the call Ash had rung him up out of the blue from Johto, gushing about some 'awesome opportunity' that had cropped up in Kanto and saying he was on his way home. He was calling to say he'd arrange a reunion dinner or something as soon as he got back in the region to tell us. Brock didn't mention it to me until the letter, I guess he assumed Ash had rung me after to share the same news, but he'd probably just assumed it was easier to have Brock pass the message on..."

Gary didn't miss the tone of bitterness in her voice. "Tch, you know boys. I think it was my sister's copy of _Jynxopolitan _that said we're almost genetically programmed to be useless with phone communication," he winked.

Misty gave a small snort but quickly resumed seriousness. "Glad you're aware of it. Anyway, Brock was writing because it had been nearly two weeks since the call and he hadn't heard anything, so he just thought Ash had rung me instead. He didn't sound _too _worried since Ash hadn't given any specific dates or anything, but he was leaving for Valencia Island to start his research fellowship with Professor Ivy the next day so wouldn't be able to make it, but just asked me to keep an eye out for any news as Ash would obviously get in touch with me if Brock was unreachable. But by the time I got Brock's message it had been almost six weeks since Ash's initial call—and neither of us had heard anything!"

"Okay fair, so then you went to the police...?"

"No. I rang round anyone I could think of obviously, but I only had our Kanto and Johto contacts to go on so it wasn't like I had conclusive proof something was really wrong and he hadn't just been held up somewhere in Sinnoh for good reason. I didn't want to get his mum really worried when I didn't have much to go on but a gut feeling something bad had happened. Well least until tonight..."

"You didn't get in touch with _me _though, surely I count as one of your possible Kanto-Johto contacts! How do you know I wouldn't know anything?" Gary demanded. "I don't, sorry to say," he said quickly, seeing Misty's eyes widen. "I'm sure Gramps would've let me know if the little fella was back in town, any excuse to get into Delia's good books that love-sick old sod..." he snorted. "Anyway point being, if you're determined to go after this masked gang yourself and become Ashy boy's knight in shining scarlet armour, you can't afford to be careless and just rule out any possibilities that don't tickle your fancy."

Misty blinked in surprise, and Gary felt a familiar surge of unadulterated confidence he had once normally reserved for Pokemon battles creeping up his chest as he realised he was finally beginning to fit the pieces together.

"For instance, before trying to fruitlessly speculate on where Ash might be right now, we should consider what information we _do _have. This city is a big connecting clue. Everything that's happened tonight, here in Goldenrod, did so for a reason, and I'll wager that reason—is _you._"

"Me ?"

"Yes. Now it could be coincidence that you happened to be in Goldenrod on the same night these masked men were plotting their scheme and you simply happened to get in the way. But barely hours after you show up the same men who were chasing you blow up the Pokemon Center and leave behind that Pikachu—whose significance would register only on those who knew Ash personally. You don't even live in Johto Scarlet, and for them to have concentrated their attack here they would've had to know their target had a specific reason for coming here, on a particular night, to make sure their message got across to the right target. Now the obvious answer is the Elite Four party, to which all Gym Leaders are automatically invited and rarely miss, with you as the notable exception, yet last night they got lucky. Why?"

"My sisters were on holiday, remember?" Misty rolled her eyes. "Honestly, being forced to leave the Gym unattended for a stupid party..."

"I've had the pleasure of getting to know your sisters _intimately _on the League party circuit Scarlet, especially that blonde ditzy one who just can't accept the hidden message of the 'it's not you, it's me' line..."

"_You're _the reason we had to spend a third of the gym budget on ice cream and vodka on Daisy last December?" Misty shrieked, instinctively raising her arm to slap that stupidly obnoxious grin right off his smug _face_!

"Shh," Gary raised a finger to his lips with one hand and caught Misty's incoming _Fury Swipes_ attack with the other. "I'm not rescuing you again if those masked men come running back. Anyway look, I'm only mentioning your sisters because I know that regardless of their vital tanning schedules, they would rather break one of their false nails than have Cerulean Gym unrepresented at any big celebrity party, let alone the _Elite Four's _biggest one of the year. What if they ended up missing the most '_ah-_mazingly juicy piece of gossip, like, _evah_?' They obviously don't match your skills in battling so they have to maintain their Leader privileges through social status instead. Which _means,_" Gary sighed, coolly forcing her twitching fists down. "You had to have volunteered yourself to come to the party so they didn't change their holiday schedules to accommodate it, and I suspect you did that against your greatest wishes because you _wanted _an excuse to come to Goldenrod City to hunt for clues about Ash's disappearance. Just a hunch, maybe? Or because you knew there was some particularly significant about this place?"

"You know a lot about this whole conspiracy cracking thing," Misty grumbled, finally folding her attacking arms in resignation.

"I know a lot about a lot of things," Gary shrugged.

"You're also incredibly annoying."

"I know a lot about being that too."

_You win, _Misty thought the words she'd never admit out loud. "Okay. It's just a guess, but I think Goldenrod City might've been the last place Ash was...you know, seen."

Gary raised an eyebrow. "Go on."

Misty bit her lip, fidgeting with her bangs agitatedly. "Do you remember the Magnet Train incident?"

Gary thought back. "The Magnet Train...oh yeah…it was on the news a few weeks ago wasn't it? 'Kanto-Johto link Magnet Train experiences sudden power surge over Tohjo Falls.' Service was resumed within an hour though and they didn't record any casualties...what were you thinking?"

"Brock said Ash had called him from Johto, and he was obviously really eager to come home and relay his exciting news. What's the quickest way to Kanto from there? The Magnet Train. And if you recall, it departs from only one place in Johto—"

"Goldenrod City," Gary breathed. "Good shout there, Waterflower, you're not too shabby at this thinking business after all. So you think Ash was on that train during the powercut?"

"Yeah, 'powercut'," Misty scoffed, putting the word in inverted commas with her fingers and choosing to ignore his jibe. "The news called it a mysterious, one-off incident caused by disruptions from wild Magneton in the area. No casualties, so nothing odd to note—except of course the fact nothing like this has ever happened before or since."

"Hmm but no casualties, so their only real plan must have been plain sabotage, to use the powercut as a smokescreen to kidnap...Ash?" Gary frowned. "But they got what they wanted. If they wanted you as well it would've been far easier to ambush you when you were travelling on your own or back in the gym. Why wait until Goldenrod? Unless they were trying to use him as to get some sort of ransom from you? But why go to all the lengths of bringing Pikachu here? A direct message would've been far more effective..."

Technically he was addressing her, but Misty may as well have taken her top off and started doing cartwheels up the walls—Gary was so absorbed in his self-speculating of potential answers she was sure he'd hardly notice anything out of the blue. Such as the fact it was meant to be _her _job to be Ash's rescuer. The emotional sting she'd felt when recalling Ash's call to Brock, and Brock only, was resurfacing again. Gary may have known Ash the longest but she had been his first _friend _on his Pokemon quest, met him almost the same time as he'd Pikachu. Why did it seem like everyone else was more capable of helping him when he was in trouble?

"Abducting Ash...and then targeting Misty in the same city...why on earth...OH!" Gary cried out suddenly, making Misty jolt with surprise.

"What? What is it?"

"When Ash called to say he was leaving, d'you know if he was on his cellphone, or what?"

"Um…I don't know... Brock mentioned he seemed well but that could easily have just been about his voice…" Misty replied, looking confused. "To be honest I'm not sure if he ever even had a cellphone, he didn't when we were together and Sinnoh's meant to be a lot mountainous isn't it? Not the most reliable for phone signals. Maybe he simply never bothered getting one, he always just rang me on the gym videophone—"

"_Videophone_!" Gary almost shouted. "Yes that's it!Think about it Scarlet, Ash was in Goldenrod to catch the train, and before boarding he calls Brock on a phone, but he doesn't have a mobile. What if we take Brock's observation as literal, and assume Ash rang by videophone? Because nowadays the only real public place with videophones is—"

"— the Pokemon Center," Misty finished breathlessly. "The last place Ash was seen before the disappearance was in the _Goldenrod Pokemon Center!"_

_And I was travelling at the time he called Brock, so there would've been no way he _could've _rung me, even if he really, truly, desperately wanted to! _Misty thought triumphantly.

"Yes, the Goldenrod Pokemon Center," Gary said softly. "Which, courtesy to our charming friends has conveniently just been blown to bits."

_Well that was a short victory, _Misty clenched her fists in frustration."There had to be something there. A clue; some evidence; _something. _They knew it and destroyed it all."

"Any physical evidence, yes," Gary murmured slowly. "But not…"

Without warning he leapt up from the ground and stuck a hand out, excitedly gesturing for Misty to take it and help herself up.

"Come on!" he said impatiently.

"What? What are you...hey!" Misty spluttered as Gary decided five seconds was too long a wait and yanked her up forcefully by the arm anyway. She stumbled to gain her balance, slapping his hand away. "Just tell me what you're thinking instead of signing your own death warrant constantly manhandling me without my permi—yeow!"

"We're going to the hospital," Gary announced, bending down and piggybacking her, completely forgetting the painful memory of his last attempt from the excitement.

"Well I'm glad you're being pre-emptive for your own sake if you keep ignoring me—"

"Misty, those men bombed the Pokemon Center for a _reason,"_ Gary almost breathed out, his voice catching up to his brisk walking pace as he began carrying her down the more pleasantly familiar streets into the city centre. "As you said, it had to be because there was something there that gave away Ash's location, or some other huge clue about his disappearance they couldn't risk the authorities finding. Especially someone fuelled by a personal motive and with powerful connections like a Gym Leader—someone like _you_."

Gary turned the corner a little too sharply in his hurry, and Misty had to quickly wrap her legs around his abdomen to avoid them bashing into a lampost. Had she imagined it or had his muscles noticeably tightened as she did so? In any case, he had to pause to hoist her up and readjust his balance before continuing. "It would be disastrous if you found any way to hinder whatever foul plan they've got up their sleeve, and suddenly you show up in Goldenrod, in the company of some of the most powerful trainers in the entire country!"

"Well they won didn't they?" Misty said bitterly. "I didn't even know where to start _looking _until you showed up. Any evidence I could've found has been blown to smithereens, and they could easily have removed it without hurting anyone."

"_Physical _evidence maybe. But what if..." he took a deep breath. "...What if Ash had _told _someone where he was going? Or someone _overheard _him telling someone some other crucial information like that? You know, like—a witness?"

"He does have trouble keeping his mouth shut," Misty admitted grudgingly. "But hundreds of people visit the Pokemon Center each day, how are we supposed to find—"

"There's one person who is _always _in the Pokemon Center, every day of the year!" Gary said, his voice tinged with the impatient excitement of a dam about to burst.

"What are you talking about—Oh!" Misty's eyes grew very wide. "You don't think—you don't mean—"

"_Yes," _Gary breathed, coming to a halt and turning Misty to face an impressive white building in the shape of a giant Chansey. "Nurse Joy!"


	5. Chapter 5

"I really _am_ terribly sorry dears, but as I clearly stated the first eight times I checked, I can only conclude from the database that your friend Nurse Joy simply _never arrived at this hospital tonight_..."

The doubts had started creeping in as soon as they'd stepped through the glass doors—what if she'd been sick that day, what if she'd deliberately avoided eavesdropping on her patients' private conversations out of professionalism, what if she'd simply _forgotten _anything she'd heard—but Gary still couldn't believe it had taken all but four and a half minutes for their one, faint glimmer of hope of finding Ash to be snatched out of their grasp, vanishing just as mysteriously as their friend had.

Beside him, Misty was still fruitlessly begging the nurse to check again, that there _must_ be a mistake, some technical error…Gary placed a gentle hand on her shoulder to tell her it was time to give up before she was met yet again with the same apologetic but growingly irritated response...

"It's all right Mabel, they're with me," came an unexpectedly familiar voice behind them.

They spun round. "Officer Jenny!"

"Good job, Tyler, keep it up," Officer Jenny whispered to the nurse with a wink.

"Sorry about that kids, just following protocol," the nurse apologized in a low voice, chuckling lightly at their shocked expressions.

"Come with me, you two," Officer Jenny said, briskly walking towards down the corridor. Misty and Gary exchanged uncertain glances for a moment, then silently nodded obediently chased after her. It wasn't like they had much of a choice.

Officer Jenny was waiting in front of the open lift doors, hurriedly motioning for them get in. Below his shoulder Gary noticed Misty's forehead oddly gleaming with sweat despite the frigid air conditioning blasting from the ceiling; in a bid not to slow him or Officer Jenny down she must have been putting far more weight on her injured ankle than was comfortable. Gary made a mental note to ask that reception nurse to insist on a check-up with the doctor after this was all over—if it came from his mouth he suspected he'd be earning a slap instead of a thanks.

Officer Jenny followed them into the lift, pausing briefly to carefully survey her surroundings before joining them inside, pressing the button for the third floor and letting the metal doors glaze over the buzzing colours of the busy waiting hall.

"What—"

"How—"

"Shh, not here!" Officer Jenny hissed urgently, glancing nervously at the young medic intern that had jumped into the elevator with them at the last second. Gary doubted she was a threat—she was wearing her scrubs inside out and looked as if she hadn't slept in a week—but was a little comforted that the authorities seemed to be taking their enemy as seriously as he and Misty were.

The lift shuddered to a stop, and the three of them re-emerged out into a long, wide corridor reeking nauseatingly of disinfectant. There was a lone cleaner nervously shuffling around with a mop almost twice her height, and the soft blare of a radio emanated from the Nurse's station to their right. Aside from that, the floor seemed to be completely deserted. Already the clean, conditioned atmosphere the City Hospital passed for air was making Gary feel slightly nauseous; he felt rather like a trespasser crossing forbidden land, breaking some unwritten law between the deathly stillness here and the general hubbub of the outside world. He was guiltily a little glad that Misty, still limping wearily beside him, appeared just as uncomfortable as he did.

"Here we are," Officer Jenny said at last, stopping outside the final door in the corridor- Ward 13. She glanced over her shoulder, carefully surveying her surroundings once more, then nimbly swiped a keycard down an inconspicuous circuit panel on the wall.

The machine beeped momentarily, then the green light on the underside of the machine blinked three times, so abruptly Misty wasn't even sure if she'd seen it happen. Apparently it had, as Officer Jenny was able to push the door and usher them into a much more pleasant room, spacious and walled in a delicate shade of periwinkle blue. A finely varnished door of teak on their left led to a comfortable looking en-suite bathroom, and the slightly dim lighting was offset by a colourful bouquet of flowers in a gleaming crystal vase next to a jug of fresh lemon water. Even with her abject hatred for hospitals, Misty found herself wondering whether she could milk her ankle injury seriously enough to get herself admitted to a room here. For the first time that evening, she actually felt somewhat at ease.

The door clicked shut behind them, and Officer Jenny, too, seemed to finally be able to loosen up a little, as Gary noticed her shoulders visibly relaxing. She sighed deeply, then turned towards Gary and Misty who were, unsurprisingly, looking at her keenly for answers.

"I'm sorry about all that you two," she smiled sadly. "We've had to take a few extra security measures, knowing today's assault came from a top criminal organization—"

"Suppose it's too hopeful to assume you've got a name yet?" Gary asked, crossing his arms and drumming his fingers on his arm nonchalantly.

"Afraid so. My squad is still recovering evidence from the site, but to be honest there wasn't really much left that we could use. Our chances of identification are looking pretty slim until we get some full-scale investigations and cross-regional checks going—"

"—So what, like a week?" Misty interjected hopefully.

"To assemble and brief all the teams on the objectives and background information maybe," Officer Jenny grimaced. "I'm sorry Misty, but we're working from a blank slate here...to know who we're dealing with we need to figure everything out step by step—types of assault, possible motives, past precedents...it's going to be a while."

"The important thing at the moment though," she said more positively, "is that these killers don't find out Nurse Joy survived the blast. Hell knows why anyone would go after someone as harmless as Joy, but I wouldn't be surprised if they're still around the city ready to... you know, finish the job. Tomorrow morning we're going to make a news announcement about the attack and say she's been relocated to another hospital in Johto—which will actually be one of our police safehouses, filled with a dozen armed police troops waiting in ambush, should they fall for the trap...we may get our answers quicker than we expect. Lt. Surge rang up earlier to err, volunteer to give us all some boot camp training in military interrogation procedures..."

"They're going to regret that," Misty smiled wryly, familiar with the leader's brash fondness for reliving his army days from their many Kanto Gym Leader conferences together. Being consecutive badge holders they were often seated next to each other, and having frequently arrived straight from the pool she was always wary of his tendency to greet the girls in an unadjusted, muscle-crushing man-hug, for she was never entirely sure if his belt of Pokeballs weren't actually housing his many Voltorbs instead. Goodness knows how frightening he'd be to an actual enemy!

"But to last the night Nurse Joy's going to be needed to kept under top security," Gary mused thoughtfully. "Ah...hence the fancy new Micron 3000 outside."

"Micro-whatta?" Misty stammered.

Gary smirked at the irritated cluelessness on her face. "That new keycard lock outside the door," he explained. "It's basically the most secure lock in existence. There's no codes to hack, no passwords to remember…the one and only way in is with a personalised keycard." He gestured towards Officer Jenny, who pointed to the card on her belt with a smile.

Misty swiveled her head back round to scowl at Gary. "Okay there is just _no _way you could know something like that off the top of your head—"

"I know a lot of things, remember?"

"_Oak—_" Misty began to snarl.

"Okay, okay. Gramps tried to install one last year for his lab…the old sod left the damn key card in his pants before doing the laundry. Learned it the hard way," he shrugged.

Officer Jenny chuckled. "So you of all people should know that the chances of our little friends getting in here are practically zero, should they be foolish enough to try. Only three people in this entire hospital have access to this room—the head doctor, head nurse and myself."

Misty looked doubtful. "Yeah…but still…I haven't seen any guards or anything…"

"You have actually," Officer Jenny answered with a sly smile. "Several times, in fact."

"What? When did—Oh!" Misty gasped. "You don't mean that 'nurse' downstairs—"

Officer Jenny nodded. "Yup, one of our undercover agents—Mabel Tyler. She's niftier with a gun than she looks," she added with a wink.

"And the cleaner outside just now, in the hallway…" Gary murmured.

"Deputy Head Lopez, one of the deadliest women around with a stun gun," Officer Jenny answered promptly, not being able to conceal a proud smile. "Good observation, Oak!"

"Lucky guess more like," Misty grumbled.

Gary smirked.

"Now, I don't have any idea what those men today were trying to do, or why they were after Nurse Joy." She paused, and her eyes grew fierce with determination. "But what I do know is no matter how hard they try, they haven't a hope in hell of even _reaching _her here. We have the situation completely under control."

As if on cue, there was a small cough from behind them. "Is someone there?" a muffled voice called out.

Officer Jenny strode forwards and drew back the pink bed curtains to reveal a fatigued, but thankfully awake and seemingly healthy-looking Nurse Joy. Beside him, Misty gave a small cry of delight._ So THAT's what she looks like smiling, _Gary thought.

Upon seeing she had visitors, Nurse Joy's expression also lit up like a light bulb. "Jenny!" she positively beamed, then caught sight of Gary and Misty peering out from behind her. "And who else, but my charming young rescuers!"

"How are you feeling, Nurse Joy?" Misty asked, smiling pleasantly. The unfamiliar sight still unnerved Gary a little.

"Well you know, been better," she said bravely. Her sunny smile had lost none of its usual warm radiance, and despite the abundance of white tubes connecting her body to the complicated looking machinery beside her bed, she managed a friendly wave. "But thank goodness you came – I fell asleep earlier wondering if it was eventually going to be sheer boredom that made me kick the bucket. Sit down, sit down!" she gestured eagerly at some plastic chairs standing by the wall.

Officer Jenny indicated to Gary she'd rather stand, so he dragged two of them over to Nurse Joy's bedside and obediently opened them up. He hadn't realised how much his muscles were aching from his interrupted sleep and carrying Misty around the place until he felt his body sinking effortlessly into the plastic frame of his seat.

"Well, what brings you two here? Good-looking young couple like you must have plenty better things to be doing than visiting little old me in a hospital at this time of night! You can just tell me it's a courtesy call and be off if you want," Nurse Joy asked with a wink.

"What? Couple? Me? Him?" Misty gabbled. "Oh no no no no that's completely wrong, you've no idea..."

Gary leant back and enjoyed the entertainment of watching Misty turn the shade of her hair, making no effort to join her mortified attempt to correct Nurse Joy's assumptions. With his head angled further back though, he was able to more clearly see the face of the desk clock on Nurse Joy's other side, and his bemused smile turned into a frown. There was only 40 minutes left until midnight—he hadn't realised how late it had gotten, and they can't have had much more time until they'd be kicked out. He'd have to get straight to the point.

He cleared his throat. "Well of course wanted to see how you were. Both Misty and I were genuinely anxious to come visit as soon as we cold, and I can't express how relieved we are to find you here, seeming poised for a full and speedy recovery." Misty nodded fervently. "We really are," he emphasised again. "But...yes, there _is_ also something else we wanted to ask you about...and we'd be very grateful if you'd help us."

"I'm sorry kids but I really don't have the energy for any more media statements about today," Nurse Joy joked, but the message behind her smile was clear. "Maybe next week..."

Misty smiled nervously. "Of…of course not…well, not _really, _though I guess kinda…it's not exactly that, it's just…"

"What she means is, Nurse Joy, is that we came to ask you about something else," Gary translated.

"That's what I said, Oak!" Misty hissed indignantly.

"It's completely unrelated to what happened today," he went on, lying smoothly. "We think you might've come across one of our good friends as he was passing through Goldenrod a few weeks ago. Does the name...Ash Ketchum by any chance ring a bell with you?"

"Ketchum…?" Nurse Joy frowned, her eyes focused upwards in thought. Gary held his breath. "Ah Ketchum...young lad around your age, with scruffy black hair, am I right?"

"Yes, yes, that's him!" Misty almost shrieked.

"Of course, wasn't he the kid that got invited by Lance to challenge him for the Champion title?"

"_What?_" Gary blurted out, his attention completely diverted. "_That _Ashy-loser already becoming Elite Four _Champion_?At _our_ age?_"_

"I know!" Nurse Joy giggled, oblivious to the jealous anger in his voice. "And to think, _I_ might actually have met Lance's potential successor!In _my _Center!"

"So you _have_ met him!" Misty cried, delighted both at the news and at the disbelieving shock on Gary's face.

Nurse Joy nodded enthusiastically. "Oooh yes! I never forget a famous face...and on my first day too! Such a nice young lad, so bright and cheerful, and not even angry when I jabbed his little Pikachu with an anesthetic instead of a Potion by mistake…"

She continued babbling on happily, oblivious to the change in mood at the mention of Ash's Pikachu.

"…And so we talked a fair bit, come to think of it…he was such a charming young kid"—Gary couldn't help having to stifle a snort—"can't remember much specifics, it was mostly small talk…and then…"

Misty's good leg jiggled impatiently.

"…Oh, I remember! He excused himself for a moment, saying he had to make a phonecall, and well, I wasn't trying to spy on him or anything I swear, but I was just curious…an eighteen year old getting personally invited for the title of Master…he'd have to know some pretty famous people right? So I just sort of subconsciously picked jobs that would keep forcing me to walk past the videophones…"

Gary wondered if there was a subtle and polite way to express the thought '_g__et on to the freaking point!' _, but realized even she might be done talking by the time he figured it out. He settled for fidgeting with his fingernails agitatedly while giving her a half hearted smile of feigned interest.

"…And then, I couldn't believe my luck. Guess who that Ketchum kid was talking to on the other line? Only _the_ most renowned Pokemon expert in the whole region—no, perhaps the entire _country_—Professor Oak!"

Gary's head shot up. "_What?_ He was talking to _Gramps?" _

Nurse Joy frowned. " 'Gramps'-?"

She was interrupted by a sharp beeping and clicking noise from the back of the room, and the three of them turned sharply towards the door. Gary leapt to his feet, seeing from the corner of his eye Officer Jenny's fingers reaching for the gun in her holster.


	6. Chapter 6

He wondered why she didn't just immediately page for help- surely one gun was not enough to protect a bed-ridden woman, a crippled girl, an unarmed teenager _and _herself?

He must have just been getting paranoid. Moments later, the door swung open, revealing a pretty young blonde nurse with a tray of water. The badge on her lapel read 'Rosalie Wilde, Head Nurse'. Gary's shoulders loosened along with Officer Jenny's hold on her gun.

Rosalie Wilde glanced down disapprovingly at the weapon. "Now really Officer, I understand the need for extra security and all, but a loaded gun right by the patient's bedside? Why, you might as well be killing her yourself!"

"Nurse Wilde!" Officer Jenny gasped in shock, but Nurse Joy waved it off.

"Oh come now Jenny, Rosalie's only kidding! I do appreciate all the effort you've put in to keep me alive"—Nurse Joy giggled—"But I really doubt it'd be fatal to bring a bit of laughter into the room."

"Yes, forget the five years of nursing school, I've always been a firm believer in laughter as the best medicine..." Rosalie gave both of them a hearty smile, which Officer Jenny returned only stiffly. She set down her tray and motioned towards the glass. "Drink up, drink up! Last thing we want after today is for you to get dehydrated..."

Nurse Joy obediently reached for the water and took a tentative sip. Apparently satisfied, Nurse Wilde turned round, finally noticing Gary and Misty's presence in the corner to where they'd backed away to make room for her by the bed.

"Oh?" she asked curiously. "I wasn't aware unknown guests had been recommended for Joy's security."

"The only exceptions believe me," Officer Jenny said firmly, not missing the patronising tone in the nurse's voice. "And I think you'll agree they've earned the right—they're the ones who rescued her this afternoon."

"Really? _You two _rescued her?" Rosalie mused, clearly impressed. "You must be incredibly brave."

"Well, it's not like we rescued her from a burning building, or anything," Misty joked weakly.

"Yeah, just a chargrilled, roasted one," Gary added.

Rosalie frowned and shook her head, her large grey eyes filled with revulsion. "Those fiends who did this…you're not close to catching them yet?" she asked.

Officer Jenny looked grim. "Well, there was a lot of damage, of course, and they did a pretty good job of covering themselves up – but I swear on Nurse Joy's safety here we will _definitely _catch the bastards who did this! Oh, sorry kids—I should really watch my language—"

"Oh, they hardly look like _kids,_" Rosalie commented, her eyes boring into Gary's. "How old are you, er—"

"Oh! We forgot to introduce ourselves. I'm Misty Waterflower, and this is Oak. Um, I mean, Gary. Gary Oak," she corrected quickly.

"Waterflower, and...Oak. I see," Rosalie echoed slowly, intrigued. "Makes sense I suppose, the two of you both coming from celebrity families…"

Misty's eyes widened in horror at Rosalie's implication. "_Him? _What, no, no, we are _not-"_

"No need to cover it, Miss Waterflower, I've been a teenager myself…ah, young love…" she sighed wistfully, but her eyes never left Gary's face. He wasn't sure if her particular attentiveness was a good or bad thing, but it was unnerving and he looked away with a small cough.

It seemed to do the trick. Rosalie started slightly, peering down at her watch. "Oh my, nearly midnight! You should probably think about leaving soon, Joy needs to get plenty of rest...and make sure she finishes that water! She needs to get lots of fluids. I'll be back in a bit to check up on her," she nodded to Officer Jenny. "Goodbye and...good luck, you two," she addressed just Gary again, then walked out towards the door, her footsteps echoing loudly through the outside hallway in the few seconds it took for the door to shut.

Misty stared after her spluttering in indignation. "Stupid blonde bimbo…thinking me and _him…"_ she turned to vent her rage on Gary, but was not met with the familiar impish smirk or obnoxious comeback she had been expecting.

Instead Gary was back in his chair, but sat up completely rigid, staring in total bewilderment at Nurse Joy. Misty followed his gaze and found herself mimicking him.

Nurse Joy was no longer beaming at them warmly; instead, her eyes were frozen, wide and unblinking, her mouth forming a tiny 'o' of petrified horror. Her face was so blanched that Misty wondered if she'd been secretly struck by a Gengar's _Dream Eater _attack when she hadn't been looking. Officer Jenny, who'd been checking something up on her PDA, looked up as she noticed the overbearing silence. She jumped to her feet in alarm.

"Joy! _Joy! _What is it?" she asked frantically, shaking Nurse Joy's shoulders so hard her luck in escaping a broken bone in the Center looked about to be negated. Despite the vigor of Officer Jenny's reaction however, Nurse Joy appeared not to even have noticed her. Instead, she did the strangest thing, lifting a trembling finger and pointing slowly at Gary and Misty in turn.

"Waterflower…and Oak?" she uttered in a terrified whisper. Nurse Joy shook her head violently. "You two—have to get out —leave Goldenrod _now!_" she hissed in a voice that did not belong to her.

Gary and Misty exchanged confounded glances. "What's happening?" Misty whispered, panic starting to rise in her throat.

"She must be burning up or something," Gary muttered in disbelief, reaching forward to feel her forehead. "Maybe some water...?"

Nurse Joy violently shook her head. "No you have to _leave!_" she hissed again, more urgent this time. "Get out of here tonight, while you still have the chance..."

"Joy! Please calm down and tell us what's _wrong!_" Officer Jenny begged, trying desperately to make sense of the situation.

"Jenny—you have to get them out of here—out of Goldenrod—out of Johto, even! Before—before it's too late—"

"Before _what_'s too late?" Gary demanded, his fists clenching so hard Misty could see the tendons straining against his skin. "_Why_?"

Misty began limping to his side, but Officer Jenny caught her arm in a vice-like grip and started firmly ushering her towards the door.

"What are you doing?" she screeched. "Let go of me!"

"I'm sorry, Misty, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave—you too, Mr. Oak—it's almost midnight, visiting hours are over, and clearly Nurse Joy is suffering from some form of post-traumatic stress-"

"No! We need—to _talk—to—Nurse JOY!" _Misty screamed, struggling violently against Officer Jenny's rein. Gary almost smiled—knowing from personal experience that Officer Jenny was likely to experience a very painful struggle—but he wasn't going to waste the grateful distraction.

"Nurse Joy, _please _calm down and just _explain _what you mean by—"

"There's no _time!" _she insisted again. "You have to go while you_ can_—before that masked man comes-!"

The entire room froze, all six eyes slowly turning to focus on Nurse Joy. Her eyes bulged wide in their sockets, abject fear plaguing her pallid features. The only sound Gary could hear in those brief, but torturously long seconds was the sound of his heart thumping violently against his ribs—and then all three of them yelled in disbelief, "The _masked man?"_

"He said—he said he's going to kill you!" she finished off dramatically.

"That's _it?" _Misty couldn't help blurt out. Gary smiled faintly in agreement. After the melodramatic display she'd just tormented them with, she couldn't let out something as predictable and obvious like _that?_

Nurse Joy blinked, clearly taken aback by their response. "W-well, yes…you…you're not frightened?"

Misty scoffed boldly. "Well it's not like he was going to invite me around for afternoon tea, was it?"

Gary stifled a snort. Officer Jenny's lips twitched, looking torn between amusement and disapproval.

"Tell us exactly what he said," Misty demanded with all the boisterous authority of a lieutenant. Noticing Officer Jenny's warning glare, she softened her lockjaw. "Please?" she added meekly.

Nurse Joy sighed, and scrabbled for the water glass the nurse had left her. Gary hurriedly handed it to her. _All that doomful whispering of the great masked apocalypse sure must have really made her thirsty, _he could almost chuckle to himself.

Nurse Joy gratefully accepted the drink, guzzling it down in large gulps to satiate her thirst. All three of them looked on patiently, waiting for her to explain.

Then she swallowed the last drop of her water, and opened her mouth to speak.

* * *

"Current situation, Vixen?"

"Why hello, Sark," she chimed cheerfully into her cellphone. "Did you have fun with the Boss?"

"You're a vile bitch, Vixen. The boss isn't your little Daddy you know. Only _you _could be so cheap to resort to stunts like that—like that's ever going to get you the succession-"

"I believe the purpose of your call was to check up on my progress, not bore with me your petty adolescent whining, Sark?" she purred.

There was a sharp hiss on the other line. "One day you'll get what you deserve, you conniving little Jynx-"

"Well to answer your question," she interrupted smoothly. "The mission is going perfectly according to plan. Obviously, as without you here there's no one to completely botch it up. I'm already on location in the City Hospital this very moment."

"On location…" Sark murmured through gritted teeth. Then his voice was hopeful. "But since you have the pleasure of being on the phone with me, you obviously aren't in her room yet. I'm an optimist, Vixen, but even you couldn't eliminate her in…what is it now, fifteen minutes? Looks likes I was just a warm up for the Boss before he moved onto you." There was a hint of a sneer in his voice.

Wedging her mobile between her ear and shoulder, Vixen stepped out of her current white loafers into a pair of sleek patent leather knee-length boots before snapping on a pair of matching black gloves.

"Oh, I wouldn't get your hopes up Sark," she whispered, her voice honey-coated acid. "Nurse Joy isn't quite dead yet, but I've had this whole thing planned from the beginning." She checked her watch. "She'll be ready to take her last breath any minute now."

She set the phone down on a nearby table and gathered up her luxurious blonde waves in a sleek bun at the base of her neck. She took a second to examine herself in the watermarked supply closet mirror. Dressed top to toe in black, with her already statuesque figure enhanced by the slender boots, she looked, in three words, drop dead gorgeous. _Pun definitely intended, _she smirked. It was time.

There was a muffled whimper behind her. She turned around, and smiled in an angelic way as she glided forward to greet her prisoner.

Her victim stared pleadingly at her with terrified eyes, struggling against her bonds. But even without the cloth gag obstructing her speech, she would never have had a chance. Vixen had forgotten the definition of mercy long ago.

"You know, nurse, you've been a great help to me. Much more obedient than I expected." She took an exquisitely polished 9mm Glock out of her holster and admired it with unconcealed pride.

The nurse nodded fervently, her horrified eyes never leaving the gun Vixen was twirling around indifferently in her hand.

"Well, then. I'd like to thank you for your services," she said pleasantly—and shot her square in the chest. The nurse crumpled to the floor noiselessly.

Vixen lightly blew off a speck of dust that had gathered on the tip from the impact, then waltzed back towards the table.

"I'm out," she announced down the phone. "Target will be eliminated by midnight, as promised." She coolly snapped the lid shut and tucked her gun into back round her belt. After a final glance at her surroundings, she strode out of the door, bulging leather bag clasped tightly in her hand.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **As mentioned on my profile, after an unintentional 4 year hiatus I am officially back with this story, and am looking to complete it by the end of the summer. The skeleton plan for the rest of the story is complete so writing shouldn't take too long, and the existing six chapters have been edited and rewritten with a lot more important detail now that I finally know how I want this story to end. If any original readers are still here, receiving this chapter on an email notification, I'm sorry for the huge delay and hope I'll be able to live up to expectations. Thank you!

* * *

"Yes, he specifically mentioned you two. His exact words were '_We'd like you to deliver a message to a young Mr. Gary Oak and Miss Misty Waterflower'._"Nurse Joy closed her eyes and took a deep breath before continuing.

"I had no idea who he was talking about. At the time, all I could think of was the close proximity of him and his gun…I argued with him, trying to reason that if he was searching for people, he'd have better luck chatting with the police…" – she smiled grimly at the irony – "…I just wanted to keep him talking, distract him while I reached for the alarm under my desk…"

Gary nodded. He remembered watching the security video; the panic in her eyes, the wild flailing of her arms…

"But then, he suddenly mentioned something I _did _recognize. He said that the two of you would be very interested in the message I was to deliver, because it related to your 'puny little friend, Ash Ketchum'."

Misty's shoulders visibly tensed in her seat.

"Of course I recognized Ash's name. I stopped arguing, wondering how co-incidental it could be, and horrified by the thought that he might have run into these terrible men.

"The need to call for help completely escaped my mind at the mention of his name; I found myself too terrified of the coming news to think of anything else. Apparently pleased that I was paying attention at last, he smiled" -Nurse Joy shuddered, recalling the ghastly way he had bared his teeth at her- "and told me that he had first brought…brought a _sign _that they weren't bluffing. A message, intended for you two..."

"Pikachu," Misty choked, her body slumping forwards. She had to grip the armrest of her chair to stop herself from falling off completely.

Nurse Joy gasped. "I-I didn't see what they meant…they merely said you two would find it in due course…oh the poor Pikachu…they must've beaten it needless to separate it from him-"

Gary inhaled sharply, fighting to distract his mind from the imagery. "And—and then?"

"He said…he…" Nurse Joy squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, taking a deep breath. "Um, is it just me, or is it getting kind of hot in here?"

The three of them looked at each other in confusion. Gary and Misty still had their jackets on from outside.

"Um, I'll turn the air con on higher," Officer Jenny offered, and walked away.

"Thanks, Jenny," Nurse Joy sighed, looking as confused as they felt. "Anyway, after that, he…um…"

"Do you want some more water?" Misty asked, pointing to the empty glass.

"No it's alright...must be the hour sorry, I just feel so sleepy_…_anyway, after that, the masked man told me, '_the message is this. You know what we want. You stole something from us, and now we want it back'…"_

"They're not very creative with their threats, are they?" Misty muttered. "What are they on about, Oak? When could I ever have stolen anything from them?"

_Stolen something...that they want back..._ "I—I have absolutely no idea," Gary admitted.

Nurse Joy suddenly seemed unusually fatigued; her head was lolling about on the pillow, and she barely managed to drag her lids back far enough to stare at them with unfocused, bleary eyes.

"…Very hot here…" she mumbled. Beads of perspiration were starting to visibly trickle down her forehead.

Gary reached over to feel her head. "She's burning up!" he cried in alarm.

"Officer Jenny!" Misty shrieked. She appeared from behind the bathroom door, her face panicked.

"What is it?" she asked urgently, striding quickly towards them. "What's happening to Joy?"

"We don't—_know-_" Misty choked. "She just suddenly said she was sleepy—and then she started—doing _that_-" she felt her breathing creep into hyperventilation and could not finish.

"I'll get the nurse," Officer Jenny muttered. Nurse Joy was now twitching uncontrollably from side to side, moaning and groaning as if once again, she was being subjected to a Gengar's _Dream Eater _attack. After taking in one final anxious glance at her friend, Officer Jenny dashed out of the door.

Gary stared as the door slammed shut after her retreating figure. Even before he heard Misty's scream he could tell something very bad was going to happen...

"_Oaaaaak!" _

He could barely hear her over the sudden psychotic warbling and beeping of the heart monitor beside Nurse Joy's bed. "Holy _crap-" _Gary blinked at the dizzying masses of lines that were spiking up and down across the screen, engaged in their own strangely erratic battle dance against each other.

Misty was scrabbling around madly for the hidden call button. "Nurse Joy!" she shrieked over and over. "Nurse Joy!"

With his own heart pounding deafeningly, Gary grabbed Nurse Joy's hand. It was like ice. He looked down in horror, but she was still conscious. Barely.

"Nurse Joy," he begged frantically in a fast, barely controlled whisper next to her ear. "Nurse Joy, can you hear me?"

Her head limply lolled around to stare at him with hazy eyes. "Water," she croaked. "I need more water."

"Misty! Water!" Gary yelled, and looked back down at Nurse Joy, firmly clasping her fingers in his hands.

"There's no more!" Misty cried in frustration, scouring the room with desperate eyes. "She drank it all!"

"Well then, find some!" he roared, shocking even himself with the force of his voice, all normal sense of cool rationality rapidly evaporating in the panic. Misty looked on the verge of uncontrollable tears as she frantically scrounged around for something, anything to help.

Nurse Joy's hand seemed to be growing colder and colder in his palm, like he was clasping a smooth stone rather than a living, human hand.

"Nurse Joy, please say something!" Gary begged. "Try to focus—breathe—you have to hold on until the doctor gets here!"

Nurse Joy's breathing was coming in intense, rasping gasps. She swallowed with difficulty, and tried to say something, but only managed to let out a hoarse croak.

"Misty, the _water!" _Gary cried urgently.

"I'm trying, I'm trying!" Misty shouted, stumbling around on her one good foot manically. "Oh—It was here all along!

Gary's head shot up in surprise.

Misty had somehow bounced her way over to a round white table opposite the bathroom. There was a bouquet of violets peeking out from below her chin, the vivid purple petals standing out against her strawberry blonde locks.

Gary felt all the breath _whoosh _out of him, as if he'd just received a Mega Punchstraight to the guts. Realization and understanding came crashing down on him like a giant tidal wave, comprehension of the sick, twisted truth dawning on him at long last.

They had seen it all as soon as they had stepped into the room. The table, opposite the bathroom. The flowers in the gleaming crystal vase, seeming to brighten up the dim lighting of the next to it, the water. It had been in the room the entire time, just as expected in any normal hospital room—so why had it been necessary for that nurse to bring Nurse Joy a glass herself, when there had been a whole jug of it sitting barely a few feet away from them?

He was vaguely aware of Misty calling to him—some faint, incomprehensive noise escaping her open lips. She seemed to be beckoning him to come and deliver the glass she was filling. The glass that had been first delivered by the young blonde nurse who had come in before.

"…_The chances of our little friends getting in here are practically zero…" _Officer Jenny had said._ "Only three people in this entire hospital have access to this room- the head doctor, head nurse and myself."_

He recalled the badge on her shirt. _Rosalie Wilde, Head Nurse. _His stomach lurched. It had been her. Rosalie—trusted, young, pretty Rosalie—how long had she been with them? How could they have been so naive to assume these masked men would only be _men, _and that they would have nothing but masks up their arsenal of disguises to kill?

She must have poisoned the water—being a 'nurse', she would have had unlimited access to hundreds of potentially lethal chemicals at her devilish fingertips. An overdose of morphine, perhaps, or something more deadly…an easily concocted cyanide compound…tasteless, colourless, odorless...the perfect crime...He could almost feel the presence of the masked man and his shadowy team breathing down his neck this very moment, waiting to pounce on whatever new hope they found next with their irretraceable claws.

The heart monitor continued warbling hysterically in the background, one more spike shooting up to signal one less second Nurse Joy and their last connecting clue had to live…Misty screamed at him again, but he did not hear—or perhaps his mind could not process any more information right now…

And then suddenly Gary felt the cold hand in his palms had become very still. It caused him enough alarm to look down, and as his mind finally spun back to tune in with the present, he realized with a start that the wailing of the heart monitor had decreased.

_**Beep…beep…beep…beep…**_

Her heart rate was slowing; that was good. But it also wasn't just her hand that had becoming motionless; her breathing was straggling to a crawl to sync with the increasingly lethargic tempo of the beeps. But that would mean –

"No!" Gary moaned. He squeezed Nurse Joy's hand fiercely. It felt like marble.

"Where's the doctor?" Misty screamed in frustration. "They should all be here by now!"

_**Beep…beep….beep…**_

Nurse Joy's lids were drooping, her eyes dazed and unfocused. Gary waved his hand in front of her face. She didn't blink.

_Shit, she's crashing... _Gary willed himself to calm down, but it seemed the oxygen in this room was being increasingly replaced by panic. Seconds passed by agonizingly slowly; with or without the visual display of the heart monitor, he could feel the life ebbing out of Nurse Joy in his helpless hands.

_**Beep….beep…..beep…**_

He felt a stirring beneath his fingers, and with a start realized it was Nurse Joy. It had been the tiniest of movements, but it was enough. Straining against her lids, Nurse Joy stared dully into Gary's terrified eyes, and with a tremendous amount of effort, let two words escape her lips.

"Arcana…Phoenix…"

In the same seconds that Gary tried to make sense of her bizarre words, her fingers became limp in his hand once more.

And then the spikes on the heart monitor morphed into one flat, straight line.

…_**beep.**_

"_NO!"_

Nurse Joy's watch, lying on the bedside table, beeped shrilly three times, announcing the new hour. It had just turned twelve. Midnight.

The door was finally flung open by a frazzled looking doctor, herded by a team of frantic nurses.

"Where is the patient?" the doctor demanded.

Gary turned round tiredly to face them, and shook his head. One of the nurses behind the doctor gasped, the colour evaporating from her cheeks.

"She's—she's _gone?" _the doctor stuttered in disbelief.

"Where were you all?" Misty screamed, tears of bitter frustration flowing freely down her cheeks. "Officer Jenny went to call for you AGES AGO! You people call yourselves doctors and nurses, well why don't you do your job and actually_ save _innocent liveslike _Nurse Joy's_-_"_

"Misty," Gary hissed warningly.

The doctor looked inexplicably appalled. "I understand your distress, Miss, but we came here as soon as we could. I'm afraid there was…a situation."

"_Situation? SITUATION? _What 'situation' could be more vital than _saving someone's life?" _Misty's voice was cracking from the strain of screaming at such volume. Gary squeezed his eyes shut, rubbing his temple tiredly.

"Finding one of our personnel lying in a pool of her own blood in one of our supply closets, perhaps," the doctor said gravely.

"T-there was a m-_murder?" _she spluttered, feeling her stomach lurch.

The doctor nodded grimly. "It was our head nurse, Rosalie Wilde. There…appeared to have been a struggle. Officer Jenny is at the scene of the crime now investigating, she had to send one of the new cleaners to fetch us here, she's only been here for a few days so it still took her a while to find her way around…"

"Rosalie Wilde?" Misty yelped, recognizing the name. "But she was the nurse who came in here! Gary, she was the one tending to Nurse Joy-"

"I know. The nurse we saw was an impostor, Misty," Gary said blankly. "She was working with the masked men, killing the real Rosalie and using her alias to get in here, undetected."

"That makes sense," the doctor agreed. "Only the most reliable and prestigious personnel here were given details about the situation tonight. By assuming Nurse Wilde's identity, she would've earned both the keycard and unquestioned trust from everyone in the hospital."

"It was ingenious," Gary murmured, failing to not sound slightly impressed. "Assume the identity, get the job done, eliminate the evidence…thus also providing the perfect distraction to stall Officer Jenny and the doctors from getting here in time. She had this perfectly planned from the beginning."

"But if she really was one of the most important people here, surely someone would've noticed a completely different person walking around with Rosalie's name badge on-"

"Scarlet, this team's sole identifying motif is masks. I'm sure their skill in utilising them for their schemes goes far beyond mere covering up."

"And Nurse Joy?"

"The water brought over by Rosalie—or whoever this fake was—was sabotaged from the start. Most likely poisoned." Gary said numbly.

"And we didn't even find out where Ash is…" Misty slumped to the floor, her whole body shaking from the fresh batch of tears clogging up her throat. "She died for _no cause—_after everything, we _still _didn't find out where Ash is, or who these tyrants are, or-or-"

"You're wrong," Gary said quietly.

It took Misty a good few seconds to process his words.

"What?"

"I said, you're wrong." Gary walked over to where she sat rocking on the floor, and kneeled down beside her, gently placing his hands on her shoulder.

Gary looked directly into her stunned eyes. "It's true, we don't know who these men are. But Nurse Joy told us Ash had just received an invitation to challenge the Champion title," he said flatly. He did not even have to bite back a condescending remark; for once in his life, none came to him. "These men managed to kidnap him on his way there, which means they knew where he was headed, too."

"And how do you know where he _was _headed?" Misty whispered. "He could've been going to _anywhere_ in Kanto-"

"_Misty_," he stressed her name. "I only just realized it now…Ash received a personal challenge from Lance. That means—and I hope to god my hunch is right—he would've been heading for the Indigo Plateau. We know Nurse Joy was being targeted for being aware of some crucial evidence they didn't want revealed, and the only clue she had related to Ash was about the challenge. Whatever these people are planning is clearly more than a simple ransom demand—given that they felt threatened by our knowledge of Ash's intended destination, it seems to me it's because their own operation, or some crucial element to its success, is located somewhere nearby. Perhaps even within the Plateau itself."

Misty slowly shook her head. "But-"

Gary shook her head. "I know after tonight it's going to be hard to put all our faith into following one sole lead again...but we _will _find him, Misty, I promise. The fact we keep finding ourselves surrounded by danger already _shows _that they're scared, that we're getting close. And they should, because they're going to pay. For everything they've done. To Ash. To Nurse Joy. To Rosalie Wilde. I swear to you, over my dead body, they'll pay."

He wrapped his arms around her firmly as she buried her head into his chest, a fresh wave of sobs bursting from her exhausted body.


	8. Chapter 8

"_Misty, Misty, I did it! I got my final Earth Badge! I'm going to the Pokemon League! I'm gonna become a Pokemon CHAMPION!"_

"_Sure you are, Ash. You know technically, you didn't really _win _your gym leader battle…"_

"_What are you talking about? Of course I did! Pikachu zapped Team Rocket's Kingler, Machamp _and _Golem in one go! I rocked!"_

"_Exactly, Ash, _Team Rocket. _The people who have been trying fruitlessly to steal Pikachu for the past…god I don't know how many months and failing, the people who don't even actually _own _any of those Pokemon! You didn't fight the _real _gym leader Ash, whoever their Boss is—_anyone _could win the Earth Badge if they were fighting _Team Rocket!"

"_GARY didn't! Haha I beat Gary, finally!"_

"_Ash, it was _because _of Gary you _earned _your badge! If he hadn't stopped Meowth…"_

"_Why are you being so bitter, Misty? Are you jealous? You know, if you battle me and win, I'll hand over my badge…NOT!"_

"_Ash, I just don't think you should get so overconfident on good luck and Gary's help alone! Those won't help you in the Pokemon League…"_

"_Just you wait, Misty! I'll show you—you and Brock and Mum and Gary—all of you—I'm gonna WIN! And become the CHAMPION! One day, even Dragon Master Lance will be personally inviting me to challenge him hahahaha…"_

How could it only have been three years ago…

"Yo, earth to _Scaaaar-_let! Your food's here," Gary whistled, waving his hands in front of her face. "And if you don't want it I'm still hungry enough to bypass the 'ladies first' rule...ow," he grunted, rubbing his arm tenderly. "Now that you're walking properly again I kinda wish you'd done your hand in instead..."

"Wouldn't have helped you, I've got mallet training in both hands," she said, tearing off a large chunk of her hamburger with her teeth. Gary was alarmed by how much she resembled Ash when eating, or perhaps it was because Ash himself was effectively a human Snorlax?

_At least we're back to normal, _he thought with bittersweet content. It wasn't an unimportant achievement. Keeping up the constant sparring – usually more physical than verbal in Misty's case—was a welcome distraction from either of them focusing too much on worrying about Ash's possible status, or nightmarish replays of everything that had happened at the hospital a few days ago. Gary liked to rationalise it in his mind as nothing more than a Pokemon battle, his well-honed scientist's sense assuming the possibility of a definitive, calculable solution by correctly predicting the opponent's moves and planning a careful counter strategy that would earn the victory. It was more comforting to try and make sense of things that didn't through what he _did _know, and excellently at that.

As Misty's ankle had begun healing surprisingly quickly, they had both made the necessary preparatory arrangements for their 'travels' – people to cover their job duties, transporting over extra Pokemon from storage, saying goodbyes they couldn't acknowledge might be their last—and met back up at the Goldenrod station to take the evening Magnet Train back into Kanto together, to begin their official journey onto Indigo Plateau.

They had both agreed not to reveal the truth to anyone, not even Professor Oak or Misty's sisters, aware that even mere knowledge could become a death sentence in their masked enemies' eyes. Even now at the back of his mind Gary had a fear that their Officer Jenny might not survive until his next, hopefully more pleasant visit to Goldenrod City. Gary wondered exactly how the experience of being thrown together as each other's sole source of human companionship on a quest to save the life of someone as mutually important as Ash – he refused to contemplate any alternative endings—would affect his still relatively murky relationship with Misty. Perhaps they would never again have reason or occasion to spend this much time with each other. Or perhaps he would end up with someone whose company he'd be able to tolerate at a VIP function without resorting to a double-whisky warm-up. Who could know?

The only thing he _could _clarify for certain at this moment was that they were both mentally and physically shattered, and that wasn't going to help anyone except the masked men.

"Say Scarlet," Gary said sweetly, trying not to smile at the prominent ketchup smear dotted on her nose, "It's already nine and we're both exhausted from running around all day. What do you say we call it a day for tonight and just make our way to Vermillion nice and early tomorrow morning? We're going to need some decent rest and breakfast to get our heads in the game anyway."

Misty finished slurping on her coke. "We checked this hotel's room availability on our way into its restaurant Oak, what are you on about? You heard him say the whole of Saffron's booked up with Contest participants for the night."

"He also said there was one deluxe double suite was still free—"

"Yes, and you refused to agree to taking the sofa!"

"Yes but I was also the one who offered to actually pay for the damn thing, I'm honestly so tired I don't think even _your _snoring would be enough to disrupt my sleep-"

"Gary Oak, you are _not_ sleeping in the same bed as me, not now, not ever!" Misty snapped, a little too loudly.

"Finally, a young girl this age with the right virtues!" an old lady on the next table muttered contentedly, shooting a filthy look at Gary.

_Well Waterflower, I'm afraid you leave me no choice..._

"All right Scarlet have it your way, but as you're so determined to travel through the Route 6 woods at night I assume you've come appropriately armed with several cans of Ultra Bug Repels?"

"B-Bug Repels?" Misty stared at him in alarm.

"Oh, you didn't know?" Gary asked cheerfully. "The forests around here are the most famous for studying night time bug Pokemon amongst us researchers. Around this time of year you'll get huge swarms migrating from Ilex Forest in Johto as the climate here's more suitable for breeding season. We'd probably be running into countless Venomoths…Ariados…hmm, even some rare nocturnal Caterpies if you're _really _lucky..."

"Y-you're making this up!" she yelped. "You and your stupid 'researcher' nonsense-"

"Well then, why don't you go in as you are and prove me wrong? I'm going to need the _most _up-to-dateresearch facts before I publish my next paper..."

"T-There's not even such _thing _as an Ultra Bug Repel you jerk-"

"Ah please excuse me," Gary said very politely, holding up his flashing cellphone. "Probably some important _'research nonsense' _I need to deal with," he smirked.

_What a stupid ringtone, _Misty thought, recognising the tune of the Kanto Champion's personalised hold music on the Indigo Plateau office hotline. _Perfectly suited for a stupid phone with a stupid owner—_

"What?" Gary yelped beside her into his phone. "Pikachu's _disappeared_?"

* * *

"Are you _sure _you saw it go down there?" Misty panted, looking grimly at the towering trees foregrounding the darkness in front of her.

"I couldn't miss anything that bright yellow in a dark wood like this," Gary replied, doubled over and also out of breath from the chase. "What I'd like to know is how Pikachu managed to escape the police station and follow us completely undetected all the way to Kanto! I mean, why would it be _trying _to hide from us in the first place? We're obviously on Ash's side!"

"Who knows, who cares? The Magnet Train station's probably the most packed place possible on a Friday night in either region, we probably just lost it in the crowd somewhere."

"Yes, but why would it spot us in the restaurant window and then choose to run _away_? Do you think it remembers something about where it was with Ash and is trying to guide us there...?"

"Maybe! We'll find out soon enough once we track it down, what we need now is to figure out how we're going to find it in this gloom!" Misty vaguely contemplated running back to the hotel restaurant and stealing some extra ketchup sachets from their table to use as bait.

"Well whatever it is, looks like we're going to have to venture into the forest after all," Gary huffed. "Tough luck Scarlet, I was only lying about one part of the bug story. We usually get extra migrating bug swarms from Hoenn _as well _as Johto."

"Eep!"

"But not a problem when you're with the Oak," Gary winked, unclasping a Pokeball from his belt. "Umbreon, a little help please!"

The Dark Pokemon burst out with a flash, stretching its legs out lazily. It looked at Misty quizzically; master hardly ever travelled with friends…

"We need your light to guide us through this forest, and your nocturnal senses too..."

Umbreon nodded obediently, illuminating a considerable radius around them with the golden rings on its body which had begun to glow brightly.

"Good job," Gary smiled, bending down to give it an approving pat. "We're looking for a little Pikachu that ran in here a few minutes ago—keep your ears and eyes alert and let us know if you pick up anything. Oh, and if you see any cute little bug Pokemon around, be sure to alert Scarlet here okay? She's not a fan..."

Umbreon turned to look at Misty, who was still looking shiftily from side to side as if a giant Dustox would materialize out of the gloom and swallow them up. It shrugged its shoulders and nodded, clearly disdainful of the human's silly little phobia.

"There," Gary said cheerfully. "Even if those bugs come your way, Umbreon will at least be able to give you warning to scream loud enough to scare them off, goodness knows you're capable of it Scarlet...right. Ready?"

"If I do see a bug I'll make sure I scream loud enough to deafen you as well, _jerk," _she warned.

"You mean you _haven't _been doing that on purpose this whole time?" Gary gasped with mock shock.

_The quicker we find Pikachu, the quicker I can get rid of him for the night…_Misty sighed, knowing that was about the only positive thing she could cling onto in their current situation. Keeping her arms tightly wrapped around her backpack straps, she quickly shuffled after Gary and Umbreon into the heart of the forest.


	9. Chapter 9

"Oak, are we lost?" Misty demanded.

"Um, no…"

"We're lost, aren't we?"

"Stop being so paranoid, Scarlet." There was no way Gary was going to admit the truth. Panicked Misty was hard enough to deal with during the day—stuck in the middle of this barren forest, with only Umbreon for light and the delusion of a bug apocalypse fresh in her mind…without the promise of a bed very soon, he knew that even he was going to snap any time now.

"Last we saw of Pikachu was the tip of its tail forty minutes ago, we've been walking around in circles since! And I'm pretty sure we've passed that scary Pinsir-shaped tree at least five times, just admit it Oak, we're lost!"

Gary clasped his hands behind his head and leant back, stretching tiredly. "For the last time, Waterflower, stop _yelling! _Umbreon's senses are strongest under the moonlight and it's been guiding us with a direct reading of Pikachu's movements the whole time! Your own voice is probably what's scaring the thing away in the first place—what was that?"

"What?" Misty snapped her head round, her heart thumping furiously. The only thing she could only see was the ever unchanging rows of trees. "See what?" she repeated, frantically tugging on Gary's sleeve.

"Over there!" he hissed, not shifting his gaze from an inconspicuous row of shrubs straight ahead. "I thought I just saw—yes, you saw it too right, Umbreon?"

"Bre!" Umbreon snarled in agreement, arching its back aggressively. Its luminous red eyes scoured the surroundings suspiciously, and the light emanating from its body skewed in all directions as it paced agitatedly on the spot, clearly sensing an intrusion.

"S-stop playing around, Oak!" Misty whispered, terrified. "It's not funny anymore!"

"I'm _not _messing about, will you stop being so paranoid—woah Scarlet, get down!"

Misty didn't even get the chance to gasp in surprise before Gary tackled her to the ground with full force.

"Ow!" she yelped as she landed head-first onto the crackly forest floor. "Gerroff me Oak, I'm suffocating-"

"No way…" Gary gasped, staring bewildered at the sight in front of them.

"W-what is it?" Misty spluttered, straining to see over Gary's body. And then, when he obligingly moved to the side, she wished she hadn't seen.

They were surrounded on all sides by more than a dozen pairs of eyes practically glowing menace, as red and as furious as a Ho-oh's Sacred Fireattack. Even though their true forms were only made clear as they stepped into Umbreon's light, neither Gary nor Misty needed to see them to realize they were in danger. Every howl, every crunching footstep and every ghastly snarl was warning enough..

"A Houndoom pack…" Misty breathed in horror.

"This is bizarre," Gary muttered, shaking his head. "Houndoom aren't even supposed to exist in Kanto, let alone an entire pack like this! Urgh, forget that for now…Blastoise!"

The enormous turtle Pokemon emerged from its ball in a burst of white light, clicking its canons threateningly.

"What, the whole pack by ourselves? Are you crazy-?"

The rest of her sentence was knocked out of her by Gary flattening her to the ground again as the front-runner of the pack unleashed a deadly Flamethrower attack at them. She gasped as she felt a wave of scalding hot air rush past her hair.

"I'm not crazy, they _are," _Gary hissed from somewhere to her left. "You got a better idea?"

Misty gritted her teeth in resignation and called out Starmie, just in time to counter another incoming fresh Flamethrower attack.

"Hydro Pump!" they yelled in unison. Both Pokemon nodded and unleashed a powerful torrent of water, drowning the fire out. But almost as soon as the flame had been extinguished, the closest Houndoom on Misty's left responded by launching another Flamethrower, straight past Starmie's open back. Gary dived to the side to avoid being turned into a human fireball.

"Keep at it, Starmie! Hydro Pump those flames down!"

"Blastoise, try combining it with Rapid Spin—Argh it's no use!" Gary yelled, dodging yet another Flamethrowerattack. "There's too many of them—they just take turns with their attacks targeting wherever Starmie or Blastoise aren't guarding, and the longer we keep parrying the more of our own escape route we're going to end up burning down!"

"Probably not the best timing, but I TOLD YOU this was a bad i—ugh!" Misty yanked Gary and his backpack out of harm's way.

"There's gotta be some way— Oh, Scarlet, jump!"

"What?" Another jet of flames licked at her heels, narrowly avoiding setting her laces on fire. "Oh!"

Gary vanished out of sight again as he rolled over a large gnarly overground root, evading a nearby Houndoom's attempted attack at his hair.

_Well of course he'd try and dodge THAT one, _Misty grimaced, watching pressed up against a prominent tree trunk a little higher up the hill and taking a few precious seconds to wipe the dripping sweat off her forehead and wishing some of Starmie would aim some Hydro Pumps her way so she could get some water. She had no idea where Umbreon had gone, probably off to fight alongside its trainer, but for better or for worse several shrubs were still alight despite their Pokemon's efforts and were acting as very effective natural torches.

She acknowledged they _were_ on natural Pokemon territory relatively alone late at night; a wild pack attack would have seemed like simple bad luck if there wasn't something particularly odd about their movements…

"I don't get it! There's so many of them—why aren't they attempting any close physical attacks? Even though we're using Water Pokemon they keep sticking with a long range Flamethrower_-_"

"They don't want to break formation-" Gary yelled between pants, weaving towards her unevenly across the flaming minesweeper board the forest floor had now become. "—Houndoom aren't that strong or fast individually, but when they're working as a pack they're deadly enough to take down a fully grown Donphan-"

"That's great for Trivia Pursuit, Oak, but is now really the best time?"

Gary ignored her, finally making it across to her side after a nimble Mean Look attack from Umbreon had immobilised the closest Houndoom's movements for a crucial few seconds. "You see that big one over on Blastoise's left? The one with the horns raked really sharply towards the back?"

"You mean the one opening its mouth now to set us alight?"

"Oh…yeah, that one—" the two of them were forced to separate again as a burning branch crashed down from above. Misty gasped in horror as the crackling flames slowly began advancing across the grass between them. They had perhaps three minutes before they'd be cut off from each other by the wall of heat completely. Gary seemed to have come to the same conclusion, as he quickly wiped his forehead with his arm and turned to directly face her, steely resolve flashing in his eyes.

"I think that one's the leader. The entire formation and co-ordination of the pack depends on that one-" Gary fumbled around for his belt as he backed up against Blastoise's shell, and yanked off one of the Pokeballs from the back. "—So if we manage to get it down, and separate the pack, it should be easy to pick them all off one by one!"

"Got it!" Misty shouted, understanding the plan. "Politoed! Staryu! Help Blastoise put out those flames!" The Pokemon burst out of their balls over on Gary's side and obediently unleashed a fierce torrent of Hydro Pumps around them. "Starmie! Use your Rapid Spinto break up the Houndoom formation!"

Starmie spun itself around faster and faster, its light weight allowing it to accelerate within just a few seconds into nothing more than a violet blur. And then, still spinning, it swerved round in a graceful arc and dived straight into the core of the pack, weaving furiously between the ranks like a duelling sabre. Just as planned the Houndoom scattered in alarm, and Starmie rounded off its elegant course by flying high into the air.

"Okay Starmie! While they're still disorientated—blind them with Flash! And now-"

"—Hyper Beam!" Gary shouted, and out of nowhere his Nidoqueen leapt out to deliver the final devastating blow. It hit the leader Houndoom square in the side, and it crumpled to the ground with a deafening howl. The rest of the pack froze at the sight, then scarpered away in their already greatly scattered directions. The boss had fallen. Panic and confusion overrode ordered instinct. It was over.

"Hey, I could've taken them Oak," Misty snapped irritably. "I'm perfectly capable—huh? What's this?"

"Well I couldn't let you take all the credit for my plan, could I? What is it?" Gary walked towards her, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

"I just stepped on it by accident…it must have dropped from that tree over there…"

"Here—Umbreon, can you bring your light closer? Thanks—Let's see…" Gary bent down to examine the spot Misty was pointing at, and let out a sharp hiss.

"What is it?"

"We're being followed."

"_What_?" "Come and take a look for yourself, Waterflower."

Heart thudding, Misty knelt down beside him and let out an audible gasp. Dirtied slightly by flecks of ash on one side, was one item of clothing Misty's dreams had become nauseatingly familiar with in the past week, and which she hadn't wanted to see again for quite a while.

"But when—how—"

"I knew there was something weird was going on with that Houndoom pack from the start, I've never seen a group that big, especially not in Kanto where they're not even supposed to live! And for them to attack here in the forest, where we're surrounded by miles of grass and wood just _waiting _to be set alight? It _can't _be co-incidence! Those men have been tracking us since Saffron, waiting to ambush us here, when we're most vulnerable in the middle of nowhere." He got up, clutching the dropped mask in his fist and stuffing it into his pocket.

"So…what do we do now?" Misty's voice trembled slightly.

"We should be safe to get through to the next town, I doubt they'll be attempting anything like this again too soon—they'll have a hard enough time rounding up all their lost Houndoom, in any case," he said with a small smile, but then his face resumed seriousness."However Scarlet, I don't think...we should...be following Pikachu anymore."

"_What_?"

"I'm afraid...we have to assume Pikachu was a trap," he said steadily, with the resigned acceptance that almost _no one _they thought they could trust was beyond surprise sabotage now. "We already know from Nurse Joy the masked men delivered it to Goldenrod as an intended threat to us. Barely an hour after we make it to Saffron City, we see it outside our window, before even Officer Jenny knows of our location, and we find out it disappeared from her care around the same time we left for Kanto."

"We don't know what horrible things those people might have done to it while he was with Ash, it was probably just scared and desperate to get our help—"

"That's the other thing," Gary interrupted. "It found us, waited for us to see it, then the first thing it does is run away. _Us_! Ash's best and longest friend respectively! And not just randomly somewhere out of fright but straight into the forest where were contemplating heading into—the exact same forest where one of those masked men was lying in wait with a massive Houndoom pack to set us ablaze. Try telling me that doesn't sound fishy to you Scarlet, I really wish I could dare you."

"It definitely_ was _Ash's Pikachu though," Misty insisted, almost as a plea for him to believe him rather than out of her own self-conviction. "It even had that little scar on its left ear as always."

"I want to believe you. I still haven't figured out how they got Pikachu to work with them, and perhaps it's better if we don't dwell on the fact. Physical marks are always imitable. Emotional ones...even more powerfully so."

"I'm sure it was the real Pikachu. I would know. I just—would," she hung her head. "And Gary, I know everything you're saying makes sense but...what if that really was Pikachu trying to get us to help Ash? Maybe he's not in the Indigo Plateau at all, and it's just another trick of those fiends to ambush us...and if we lose Pikachu now then w-what happens to it and t-to Ash?"

"Hey, look at me."

She didn't respond.

"Misty. Look at me."

She raised her head ever so slowly and reluctantly, as if she had lost so much hope she no longer even had the energy or will to perform such a basic motion. Gary studied her light jade eyes, made all the more striking in contrast to the considerable dirt that had accumulated on her pale face during the fight, and shimmering partly from an inner fire he was surprised he'd never noticed before and partly, much to his chagrin, from hastily blinked away tears. Something about witnessing those barely restrained drops of desperation trickling from such naturally spirited orbs face-on made him unspeakably angry inside.

"I'm afraid," he said with what he hoped was a reassuring small smile, "it seems the only thing we can do from now on is...to actually trust each _other_. It sadly appears we're a little short on alternative options. What do you say?"

Misty responded with a sniff and hurriedly looked away to wipe another trickling tear from her cheek, but managed a small choke of a laugh. "I guess so. That's going to be a bit of a dampener on the whole experience isn't it?"

"Hmph. Indeed." Gary closed his eyes and walked away to recall his Pokemon with a contented smile. He only hoped he would be able to enable her to keep his word.

* * *

"They managed to beat the entire Houndoom pack you say?"

"Yes…the boy…he singled out the leader and worked out the need to separate them…I must admit his handling of the situation was really impressive for his age."

"There is nothing _impressive _about you allowing two pesky teenagers to put our efforts and resources to utter _waste!" _Vixen hissed into the receiver.

"My cover would have been blown otherwise-"

"Listen here, Grunt number I couldn't give a flaming Rattatta's ass about. Our old logo still haunts the Most Wanted lists of every police branch in the country, The Boss regularly has dinner with the top echelon of city officials in Kanto. Everyone _knows_ who we are, even if they won't be fully aware of it until our revival is complete, and nobody_ cares _if you're found or lost or live or die_—_not here, not outside, not even at home where you might have cuddled with darling Mummy and Daddy once upon a time—_no one, _do you hear? The only exception are those like _me _who have to waste precious time picking up your shards of utter in competence and trust me, that is _not _the kind of care you want. So sit down, shut up, and next time you allow two pesky little toddlers to destroy the vital steps of our most important project to date, have the decency to admit your own uselessness and leave your pathetic cry-baby excuses _out of it!_ _"_

She slammed the cover of her cell-phone shut and hurled it with deadly trained accuracy into her handbag across the room.

The door clicked open. "My, my, time of the month is it, Vixen?"

"If the blood in question is from your neck Sark, then yes. The junior goon you sent to facilitate the Houndoom ambush on Oak and Waterflower completely botched up the mission, and now we've lost our entire pack and tailing agent." She shot him a filthy glare.

"We've…lost… our trail then?" He gulped slightly, trying to conceal his fear.

Vixen grabbed a gold lipstick tube lying by her keyboard and began carefully tracing the curves of her lips. She took out a small cosmetic mirror from her top drawer and began inspecting her reflection carefully.

"Oh no I don't think so, Sark. I'm sure we will see the Phoenix making his namesake's rebirth before Project Arcana's completion. And when it happens" – she snapped the case shut, and peered up at through her thick lashes and curled her newly scarlet lips into a venomous smile—"Gary Oak won't be escaping from my clutches. _Not again_."

* * *

Expect the next update soon!


End file.
